Object exchange method, exposure method, carrier system, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method

ABSTRACT

A carrier apparatus positions a chuck member above a wafer mounted on a fine movement stage, relatively moves the chuck member and the fine movement stage in a vertical direction, makes the chuck member approach a position which is a predetermined distance away from the upper surface of the wafer, makes the chuck member hold the wafer from above in a non-contact manner, and makes the chuck member holding the wafer and the fine movement stage move apart within a predetermined plane after making the chuck member holding the wafer and the fine movement stage move apart in the vertical direction. Further, the carrier apparatus loads the wafer held in a non-contact manner from above by the chuck member on the fine movement stage.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional application claims the benefit of ProvisionalApplication No. 61/179,914 filed May 20, 2009, Provisional ApplicationNo. 61/213,329 filed May 29, 2009, and Provisional Application No.61/213,330 filed May 29, 2009, the disclosures of which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to object exchange methods, exposuremethods, carrier systems, exposure apparatuses, and device manufacturingmethods, and more particularly, to an exchange method in which a thinplate-shaped object is exchanged on a holding member, an exposure methodusing the exchange method, a carrier system which carries a thinplate-shaped object, an exposure apparatus which is equipped with thecarrier system, and a device manufacturing method which uses theexposure method or the exposure apparatus.

2. Description of the Background Art

Conventionally, in a lithography process for manufacturing electrondevices (microdevices) such as semiconductor devices (such as integratedcircuits) and liquid crystal display devices, exposure apparatuses suchas a projection exposure apparatus by a step-and-repeat method (aso-called stepper) and a projection exposure apparatus by astep-and-scan method (a so-called scanning stepper (which is also calleda scanner) are mainly used.

Substrates such as a wafer, a glass plate or the like subject toexposure which are used in these types of exposure apparatuses aregradually (for example, in the case of a wafer, in every ten years)becoming larger. Although a 300-mm wafer which has a diameter of 300 mmis currently the mainstream, the coming of age of a 450 mm wafer whichhas a diameter of 450 mm looms near. When the transition to 450 mmwafers occurs, the number of dies (chips) output from a single waferbecomes double or more the number of chips from the current 300 mmwafer, which contributes to reducing the cost. In addition, it isexpected that through efficient use of energy, water, and otherresources, cost of all resource use will be reduced.

However, because the thickness of the wafer does not increase inproportion to the size of the wafer, intensity of the 450 mm wafer ismuch weaker when compared to the 300 mm wafer. Accordingly, even whenaddressing an issue such as wafer carriage, is expected that putting itinto practice would be difficult in the same ways and means as in thecurrent 300 mm wafer.

Further, when the size of the wafer becomes as large as 450 mm, whilethe number of dies (chips) output from a single wafer increases, theprobability becomes high of throughput deceasing due to an increase inthe time required to perform an exposure process on a single wafer.Therefore, as a method of suppressing the decrease in throughput as muchas possible, employing a twin stage method (for example, refer to U.S.Pat. No. 6,590,634, U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,441, or U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,407and the like) can be considered where an exposure process on a wafer isperformed on one wafer stage, and processing such as wafer exchange,alignment or the like is performed concurrently on another wafer stage.However, in the conventional exposure apparatus of the twin stagemethod, because the relation between the exposure position, alignmentposition, and wafer exchange position was not considered in particular,in the case when a 450 mm wafer was subject to processing, time wasrequired until wafer exchange begins after exposure has been completed,which caused the risk of not being able to sufficiently improve thethroughput.

Accordingly, appearance of a new system that can deal with the 450 mmwafer is expected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is providedan object exchange method in which a thin plate-shaped object isexchanged on a holding member, the method comprising: positioning anunload member above the object which is mounted on the holding member;relatively moving the unload member and the holding member in a verticaldirection, and making the unload member approach a position which is apredetermined distance away from an upper surface of the object; andmaking the unload member hold the object from above in a non-contactmanner, and making the unload member holding the object and the holdingmember move apart.

According to this method, it becomes possible to hold an object fromabove in a non-contact manner by a unload member, and to unload theobject from the holding member. Therefore, it is not necessary to form anotch in the holding member to house an arm and the like used forunloading to unload the object from the holding member, and is also notnecessary to provide a vertical movement member used in the delivery ofthe object in the holding member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda first exposure method, comprising; exchanging a thin plate-shapedobject on the holding member by the object exchange method of thepresent invention; and exposing the object held by the holding memberwith an energy beam after the object has been exchanged, and forming apattern on the object.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provideda second exposure method in which an object is exposed with an energybeam, and a pattern is formed on the object, the method comprising:positioning an unload member above the object which is mounted on theholding member; relatively moving the unload member and the holdingmember in a vertical direction, and making the unload member approach aposition which is a predetermined distance away from an upper surface ofthe object; and making the unload member hold the object from above in anon-contact manner, and making the unload member holding the object andthe holding member move apart.

According to the first and second exposure methods, it becomes possibleto hold the object in a uniform manner across the entire surface by theholding member. Therefore, by exposing the object with an energy beam ina state where the degree of flatness of the object is maintainedfavorably across the entire surface, it becomes possible to form apattern with good precision across the entire surface of the object.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda third exposure method in which an object is exposed with an energybeam, the method comprising: supporting each of a plurality of holdingmembers that hold the object relatively movable, by a first movable bodywhich is movable within a first range in a two-dimensional planeincluding a first axis and a second axis that are orthogonal to eachother that includes a first area where an exposure processing ofirradiating the energy beam on an object is performed, and a secondmovable body which is movable within a second range placed at a positiona predetermined distance away from the first area on one side of adirection parallel to the first axis and where a measurement processingis performed with respect to an object; and performing an exchange ofthe object when the holding member is at a place other than on the firstand second movable bodies.

According to this method, exchange of the object is performed when theholding member holding the object is at a place other than on the firstand second movable bodies. In other words, the exchange of the object isperformed, regardless of the operation of the first and second movablebodies. Therefore, it becomes possible to concurrently perform exposureof an object held by a holding member while exchange of an object heldby another holding member is being performed in the first area, or alsoto concurrently perform measurement with respect to an object held by aholding member while exchange of an object held by another holdingmember is being performed in the second area. In this case, when thereare three holding members, for example, in parallel with exposure of anobject held by a first holding member in the first area and measurementwith respect to an object held by a second holding member in the secondarea, exchange of an object held by a third holding member can also beperformed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda device manufacturing method, including exposing an object by theexposure method according to one of the first to third exposure methodsof the present invention; and developing the object which has beenexposed.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda carrier system which carries a thin plate-shaped object, the systemcomprising: a carrier apparatus which has a holding section that canhold an object from above in a non-contact manner, and relatively drivesthe holding member holding the object and the holding section within apredetermined plane parallel to a horizontal plane, positions theholding section above the object mounted on the holding member,relatively moves the holding section and the holding member in avertical direction, makes the holding section approach a position whichis a predetermined distance away from an upper surface of the object,makes the holding section hold the object on the holding member fromabove in a non-contact manner, and makes the holding section and theholding member move apart within a predetermined plane after making theholding section holding the object and the holding member move apart ina vertical direction.

According to this system, the carrier apparatus relatively drives theholding member which holds the object and the holding section within apredetermined plane parallel to the horizontal plane, positions theholding section at a position above the object mounted on the holdingmember, makes the holding section approach a position by a predetermineddistance from the upper surface of the object, makes the holding sectionhold the object on the holding member in a non-contact manner, and thenmoves apart the holding section holding the object and the holdingmember after moving apart the holding section holding the object and theholding member in the vertical direction. Therefore, it is not necessaryto form a notch in the holding member to house an arm and the like usedfor unloading to unload the object from the holding member, and is alsonot necessary to provide a vertical movement member used in the deliveryof the object in the holding number.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a first exposure apparatus that exposes a thin plate-shapedobject with an energy beam and forms a pattern on the object, theapparatus comprising: a carrier system of the present invention; amovable body which holds a holding member in which a measurement planeis provided on a plane substantially parallel to the predetermined planerelatively movable along the predetermined plane, and is movable alongthe predetermined plane; a first measurement system which irradiates atleast one first measurement beam on the measurement plane from below,and receives light of the first measurement beam from the measurementplane and measures positional information at least within thepredetermined plane of the holding member; and a drive system whichdrives the holding member in one of an individual and integral mannerwith the movable body, based on the positional information measured bythe first measurement system.

According to this apparatus, along with holding an object, a measurementplane is provided on a plane substantially parallel to a predeterminedplane of the holding member. This holding member is held relativelymovable along a predetermined plane by a movable body. And, a firstmeasurement system irradiates at least one first measurement beam on themeasurement plane of the holding member, and receives light of the firstmeasurement beam from the measurement plane and measures positionalinformation of the holding member at least within the predeterminedplane. In other words, the first measurement system irradiates the firstmeasurement beam on the measurement plane of the holding member, whichallows the positional information of the holding member within thepredetermined plane to be measured with good precision by the so-calledback surface measurement. And, the holding member is driven by the drivesystem individually or integrally with the movable body, based on thepositional information measured by the first measurement system.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a second exposure apparatus that exposes a thin plate-shapedobject with an energy beam and forms a pattern on the object, theapparatus comprising: a carrier system which is equipped with a carrierdevice which has a holding section that can hold an object from above ina non-contact manner, and relatively drives the holding member holdingthe object and the holding section within a predetermined plane parallelto a horizontal plane, positions the holding section above the objectmounted on the holding member, relatively moves the holding section andthe holding member in a vertical direction, makes the holding sectionapproach a position which is a predetermined distance away from an uppersurface of the object, makes the holding section hold the object on theholding member from above in a non-contact manner, and makes the holdingsection and the holding member move apart within a predetermined planeafter making the holding section holding the object and the holdingmember move apart in a vertical direction.

According to this apparatus, it is not necessary to form a notch in theholding member to house an arm and the like used for unloading to unloadthe object from the holding member, and is also not necessary to providea vertical movement member used in the delivery of the object in theholding member.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda third exposure apparatus that exposes an object with an energy beam,the apparatus comprising: an exposure processing section in whichexposure processing of irradiating the energy beam onto an object heldby a holding member is performed; a measurement processing section whichis placed away from the exposure processing section on one side in adirection parallel to a first axis and in which measurement processingwith respect to an object held by a holding member is performed; and anobject exchange system which performs an exchange of the object when theholding member is at a place other than on a movable body which isplaced in each of the exposure processing section and the measurementprocessing section.

According to this apparatus, exchange of the object by the objectexchange system is performed when the holding member holding the objectis at a place other than on the first and second movable bodies placedat the exposure processing section and the measurement processingsection. In other words, the exchange of the object is performed,regardless of the exposure processing and measurement processing.Therefore, it becomes possible to concurrently perform exposure of anobject held by a holding member while exchange of an object held byanother holding member is being performed in the exposure processingsection, or also to concurrently perform measurement with respect to anobject held by a holding member while exchange of an object held byanother holding member is being performed in the measurement processingsection. In this case, when there are three holding members, forexample, in parallel with exposure of an object held by a first holdingmember in the exposure processing section and measurement with respectto an object held by a second holding member in the measurementprocessing section, exchange of an object held by a third holding membercan also be performed.

In the description, exposure processing section, when exposing an object(a wafer) by irradiating an energy beam, refers to a movement range of aholding member which holds the object and a part of an exposureapparatus in the vicinity of the range, and measurement processingsection, refers to a movement range of a holding member which holds anobject and a part of an exposure apparatus in the vicinity of the rangewhen a predetermined measurement with respect to the object such asalignment measurement, focus measurement and the like is performed.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda device manufacturing method, including exposing an object using one ofthe first to third exposure apparatuses of the present invention; anddeveloping the object which has been exposed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings;

FIG. 1 is a view that schematically shows a configuration of an exposureapparatus of a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a planar view of the exposure apparatus in FIG. 1 which ispartially omitted;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing an area around the measurementstation in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4A shows a side view of a wafer stage which the exposure apparatusin FIG. 1 is equipped with when viewed from a −Y direction, and FIG. 4Bis a planar view showing the wafer stage;

FIG. 5 is a view used to explain a movable blade which the exposureapparatus in FIG. 1 is equipped with;

FIG. 6 is a view used to explain a separation structure of a coarsemovement stage;

FIG. 7 is a planar view showing a placement of a magnet unit and a coilunit that structure a fine movement stage drive system;

FIG. 8A is a view used to explain an operation when a fine movementstage is rotated around the Z-axis with respect to a coarse movementstage, FIG. 8B is a view used to explain an operation when a finemovement stage is rotated around the Y-axis with respect to a coarsemovement stage, and FIG. 8C is a view used to explain an operation whena fine movement stage is rotated around the X-axis with respect to acoarse movement stage;

FIG. 9 is a view used to explain an operation when a center section ofthe fine movement stage is deflected in the +Z direction;

FIG. 10A is a view showing a rough configuration of an X head 77 x, andFIG. 10B is a view used to explain a placement of each of the X head 77x, Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb inside the measurement arm;

FIG. 11A shows a perspective view of a tip of a measurement arm, andFIG. 11B is a planar view when viewed from the +Z direction of an uppersurface of the tip of the measurement arm;

FIG. 12A is a view used to explain a drive method of a wafer at the timeof scanning exposure, and FIG. 12B is a view used to explain a drivingmethod of a wafer at the time of stepping;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control systemof the exposure apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 14A to 14C are views used to explain a procedure of unloading awafer in the exposure apparatus of the first embodiment, and are viewsshowing a state where the vicinity of a chuck unit in the measurementstation is viewed from the side;

FIGS. 15A to 15C are views used to explain a procedure of unloading awafer in the exposure apparatus of the first embodiment, and are viewsshowing a state where the vicinity of a chuck unit in the measurementstation is viewed from above;

FIGS. 16A to 16D are views used to explain a parallel processingperformed using fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 (No. 1) in theexposure apparatus of the first embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion spacearea (liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movableblade (No. 1);

FIG. 19 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion spacearea (liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movableblade (No. 2);

FIG. 19 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion spacearea (liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movableblade (No. 3);

FIG. 20 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion spacearea (liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movableblade (No. 4);

FIGS. 21A to 21F are views used to explain a parallel processingperformed using fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 (No. 2) in theexposure apparatus of the first embodiment;

FIGS. 22A to 22C are views used to explain suction of wafer W by a waferholder and release of the suction;

FIGS. 23A to 23C are views used to explain a first modified example of awafer exchange device;

FIGS. 24A and 24B are views used to explain a second modified example ofa wafer exchange device;

FIG. 25 is a view that schematically shows a configuration of anexposure apparatus of a second embodiment;

FIG. 26 is a planar view of the exposure apparatus in FIG. 25 which ispartially omitted;

FIG. 27 is an enlarged view showing an area around the center table andthe chuck unit in FIG. 25;

FIG. 28A shows a side view of a wafer stage which the exposure apparatusin FIG. 25 is equipped with when viewed from a −Y direction, and FIG.28B is the wafer stage shown in a planar view;

FIG. 29A is an extracted planar view of the coarse movement stage, andFIG. 29B is a planar view showing a state where the coarse movementstage is separated into two sections;

FIG. 30 is a front view of a wafer stage showing a separated state ofthe coarse movement stage;

FIG. 31 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control systemof the exposure apparatus in FIG. 25;

FIGS. 32A to 32C are views used to explain a procedure of unloading awafer in the exposure apparatus of the second embodiment, and are viewsshowing a state where the vicinity of a chuck unit is viewed from theside;

FIGS. 33A to 33C are views used to explain a procedure of unloading awafer in the exposure apparatus of the second embodiment, and are viewsshowing a state where the vicinity of a chuck unit is viewed from above;

FIG. 34 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion spacearea (liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movableblade in the exposure apparatus of the second embodiment (No. 1);

FIG. 35 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion spacearea (liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movableblade in the exposure apparatus of the second embodiment (No. 2);

FIG. 36 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion spacearea (liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movableblade in the exposure apparatus of the second embodiment (No. 3);

FIG. 37 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion spacearea (liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movableblade in the exposure apparatus of the second embodiment (No. 4);

FIGS. 38A to 38D are views used to explain a parallel processingperformed using fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 (No. 1) in theexposure apparatus of the second embodiment;

FIG. 39 is a planar view corresponding to the state shown in FIG. 38B;

FIGS. 40A and 40B are views used to explain the parallel processingperformed using fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 (No. 2) in theexposure apparatus of the second embodiment;

FIGS. 41A to 41C are views used to explain the parallel processingperformed using fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 (No. 3) in theexposure apparatus of the second embodiment;

FIG. 42 is a planar view that schematically shows a configuration of anexposure apparatus of a third embodiment;

FIG. 43 is a view schematically showing a configuration of an exposurestation, a measurement station and the like of the exposure apparatus inFIG. 42;

FIG. 44 is an enlarged view showing an area around the center table inFIG. 43;

FIG. 45 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control systemof the exposure apparatus in FIG. 42;

FIG. 46 is a view used to explain a parallel processing performed usingthe three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS3, and WFS3 (No. 1) in theexposure apparatus of the third embodiment;

FIG. 47 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion space(liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movable bladein the exposure apparatus of the third embodiment (No. 1);

FIG. 48 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion space(liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movable bladein the exposure apparatus of the third embodiment (No. 2);

FIG. 49 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion space(liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movable bladein the exposure apparatus of the third embodiment (No. 3);

FIG. 50 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion space(liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movable bladein the exposure apparatus of the third embodiment (No. 4);

FIGS. 51A to 51D are views used to explain a parallel processingoperation performed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, andWFS3 (No. 2) in the exposure apparatus of the third embodiment;

FIG. 52 is a view used to explain a parallel processing performed usingthe three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No. 3) in theexposure apparatus of the third embodiment;

FIG. 53 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.4) in the exposure apparatus of the third embodiment;

FIG. 54 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.5) in the exposure apparatus of the third embodiment;

FIG. 55 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.6) in the exposure apparatus of the third embodiment;

FIG. 56 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.7) in the exposure apparatus of the third embodiment;

FIG. 57 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.8) in the exposure apparatus of the third embodiment;

FIG. 58 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1 WFS2, and WFS3 (No.9) in the exposure apparatus of the third embodiment;

FIG. 59 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.10) in the exposure apparatus of the third embodiment;

FIG. 60 is a planar view showing a schematic configuration of theexposure apparatus of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 61 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control systemof the exposure apparatus in FIG. 60;

FIG. 62 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3(No. 1) in the exposure apparatus of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 63 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.2) in the exposure apparatus of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 64 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.3) in the exposure apparatus of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 65 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.4) in the exposure apparatus of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 66 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.5) in the exposure apparatus of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 67 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.6) in the exposure apparatus of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 68 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.7) in the exposure apparatus of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 69 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.8) in the exposure apparatus of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 70 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.9) in the exposure apparatus of the fourth embodiment; and

FIG. 71 is a view used to explain a parallel processing operationperformed using the three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 (No.10) in the exposure apparatus of the fourth embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS A First Embodiment

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below,with reference to FIGS. 1 to 22C.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a configuration of an exposure apparatus 100in the first embodiment. Exposure apparatus 100 is a projection exposureapparatus by the step-and-scan method, or a so-called scanner. As itwill be described later, a projection optical system PL is arranged inthe embodiment, and in the description below, a direction parallel to anoptical axis AX of this projection optical system PL will be describedas the Z-axis direction, a direction within a plane orthogonal to theZ-axis direction in which a reticle and a wafer are relatively scannedwill be described as the Y-axis direction, a direction orthogonal to theZ-axis direction and the Y-axis direction will be described as theX-axis direction, and rotational (inclination) directions around theX-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis will be described as θ x, θ y, and θz directions, respectively. The same is true also for a second, a third,and a fourth embodiment and the like, which will be described later on.

As shown in FIG. 1, exposure apparatus 100 is equipped with an exposurestation 200 placed close to the end on the −Y side of a base board 12, ameasurement station 300 placed close to the end on the +Y side of baseboard 12, two wafer stages WST1 and WST2, a relay stage DRST, and acontrol system and the like for these parts. Now, base board 12 issupported on the floor surface almost horizontally (parallel to the XYplane) by a vibration isolation mechanism (omitted in drawings). Baseboard 12 is made of a tabular member, and the degree of flatness of theupper surface is extremely high and serves as a guide surface when thethree stages WST1, WST2, and DRST described above move.

Exposure station 200 comprises an illumination system 10, a reticlestage RST, a projection unit PU, a local liquid immersion device 8 andthe like.

Illumination system 10 includes a light source, an illuminanceuniformity optical system, which includes an optical integrator and thelike, and an illumination optical system that has a reticle blind andthe like (none of which are shown), as is disclosed in, for example,U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0025890 and the like.Illumination system 10 illuminates a slit-shaped illumination area TARwhich is set on a reticle R with a reticle blind (also referred to as amasking system) by illumination light (exposure light) IL with asubstantially uniform illuminance. In this case, as illumination lightIL, for example, an ArF excimer laser beam (wavelength 193 nm) is used.

On reticle stage RST, reticle R on which a circuit pattern or the likeis formed on its pattern surface (the lower surface in FIG. 1) is fixed,for example, by vacuum chucking. Reticle stage RST is finely drivablewithin an XY plane, for example, by a reticle stage drive system 11 (notshown in FIG. 1, refer to FIG. 13) that includes a linear motor or thelike, and reticle stage RST is also drivable in a scanning direction (inthis case, the Y-axis direction, which is the lateral direction of thepage surface in FIG. 1) at a predetermined scanning speed.

The positional information (including rotation information in the θ zdirection) of reticle stage RST in the XY plane is constantly detected,for example, at a resolution of around 0.25 nm by a reticle laserinterferometer (hereinafter referred to as a “reticle interferometer”)13, via a movable mirror 15 (the mirrors actually arranged are a Ymovable mirror (or a retro reflector) that has a reflection surfacewhich is orthogonal to the Y-axis direction and an X movable mirror thathas a reflection surface orthogonal to the X-axis direction) fixed onreticle stage RST. The measurement values of reticle interferometer 13are sent to a main controller 20 (not shown in FIG. 1, refer to FIG.13). Incidentally, the positional information of reticle stage RST canbe measured by an encoder system as is disclosed in, for example, U.S.Patent Application Publication 2007/0288121 and the like.

Projection unit PU is placed below reticle stage RST (on the −Z side) inFIG. 1. Projection unit PU is supported via a flange portion FLGprovided in the outer periphery of the projection unit, by a main frame(also called a metrology frame) BD supported horizontally by a supportmember (not shown). Projection unit PU includes a barrel 40, and aprojection optical system PL consisting of a plurality of opticalelements held by barrel 40. As projection optical system PL, forexample, a both-side telecentric dioptric system that has apredetermined projection magnification (such as one-quarter, one-fifth,or one-eighth times) is used. Therefore, when illumination system 10illuminates illumination area IAR on reticle R with illumination areaIL, by illumination light IL which has passed through reticle R placedso that its pattern surface substantially coincides with a first surface(object surface) of projection optical system PL, a reduced image of thecircuit pattern of reticle R within illumination area IAR via projectionoptical system PL (projection unit PU) is formed on a wafer W whosesurface is coated with a resist (a sensitive agent) and is placed on asecond surface (image plane surface) side of projection optical systemPL, on an area (hereinafter also referred to as an exposure area) IAconjugate with illumination area IAR. And by reticle stage RST and finemovement stage (also referred to as a table) WFS1 (or WFS2) beingsynchronously driven, reticle R is relatively moved in the scanningdirection (the Y-axis direction) with respect to illumination area IAR(illumination light IL) while wafer W is relatively moved in thescanning direction (the Y-axis direction) with respect to exposure areaIA (illumination light IL), thus scanning exposure of a shot area(divided area) on wafer W is performed, and the pattern of reticle R istransferred onto the shot area. That is, in the embodiment, the patternof reticle R is generated on wafer W according to illumination system 10and projection optical system PL, and then by the exposure of thesensitive layer (resist layer) on wafer W with illumination light IL,the pattern is formed on wafer W. Now, projection unit PU is held by amain frame BD, and in the embodiment, main frame BD is supported almosthorizontally by a plurality of (e.g., three or four) support memberswhich are each placed on an installation surface (floor surface) via avibration isolation mechanism. Incidentally, the vibration isolationmechanism can be placed between each of the support members and mainframe BD. Further, as is disclosed in, for example, PCT InternationalPublication 2006/038952, main frame BD (projection unit PU) can besupported by suspension with respect to a mainframe member (not shown)placed above projection unit PU or with respect to a reticle base.

Local liquid immersion device 8 includes a liquid supply device 5, aliquid recovery device 6 (both of which are not shown in FIG. 1, referto FIG. 13), a nozzle unit 32 and the like. As shown in FIG. 1, nozzleunit 32 is supported in a suspended state by a main frame BD supportingprojection unit PU and the like via a support member (not shown) so thatthe periphery of the lower end portion of barrel 40 that holds anoptical element closest to the image plane side (the wafer W side)constituting projection optical system PL, in this case, a lens(hereinafter also referred to as a “tip lens”) 191, is enclosed. In theembodiment, main controller 20 controls liquid supply device 5 (refer toFIG. 13), and supplies a liquid Lq (refer to FIG. 1) between tip lens191 and wafer W, as well as control liquid recovery device 6 (refer toFIG. 13), and recovers the liquid from between tip lens 191 and wafer W.During the operations, main controller 20 controls liquid supply device5 and liquid recovery device 6 so that the quantity of liquid suppliedconstantly equals the quantity of liquid which has been recovered.Accordingly, a constant quantity of liquid Lq (refer to FIG. 1) is heldconstantly replaced in the space between tip lens 191 and wafer W. Inthe embodiment, as liquid Lq above, pure water that transmits the ArFexcimer laser beam (light with a wavelength of 193 nm) is to be used.

Besides this, in exposure station 200, a fine movement stage positionmeasurement system 70A is provided, including a measurement arm 71Asupported almost in a cantilevered state (supported in the vicinity ofone end) by main frame BD via a support member 72A. However, finemovement stage position measurement system 70A will be described afterdescribing the fine movement stage, which will be described later, forconvenience of the explanation.

Measurement station 300 is equipped with an aligner 99 fixed in asuspended state to main frame BD, a chuck unit 102, and a fine movementstage position measurement system 70B including a measurement arm 71Bsupported in a cantilevered state (supported in the vicinity of one end)by main frazzle BD via a support member 72B. Fine movement stageposition measurement system 70B faces an opposite direction but has aconfiguration similar to fine movement stage position measurement system70A previously described.

Aligner 99 includes five alignment systems AL1, and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄ shownin FIG. 2, as is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2008/0088843 and the like. To be more specific, as shownin FIG. 2, a primary alignment system AL1 is placed on a straight line(hereinafter, referred to as a reference axis) LV, which passes throughthe center of projection unit PU (optical axis AX of projection opticalsystem PL, which also coincides with the center of exposure area IApreviously described in the embodiment) and is also parallel to theY-axis, in a state where the detection center is located at a positionthat is spaced apart from optical axis AX at a predetermined distance onthe +Y side. On one side and the other side in the X-axis direction withprimary alignment system AL1 in between, secondary alignment systems AL2₁ and AL2 ₂, and AL2 ₃ and AL2 ₄ whose detection centers aresubstantially symmetrically placed with respect to reference axis LV areseverally arranged. That is, five alignment systems AL1 and AL2 ₁ to AL2₄ are placed so that their detection centers are placed along the X-axisdirection. Secondary alignment systems AL2 ₁, AL2 ₂, AL2 ₃, and AL2 ₄are held within the XY plane by a movable holding device (a slider). Aseach of alignment systems AL1, and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄, are FIA (Field ImageAlignment) system by an image processing method is used. The imagingsignals from alignment systems AL1, and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄ are supplied tomain controller 20 (refer to FIG. 13). Incidentally, in FIG. 1, the fivealignment systems AL1 and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄ are shown as an aligner 99,including the holding apparatus (sliders) which hold these systems.Incidentally, the detailed configuration of aligner 99 is disclosed in,for example, PCT International Publication No. 2008/056735 (and thecorresponding U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0233234) andthe like.

As shown in FIG. 3, chuck unit 102 is equipped with a drive section 104fixed to the lower surface of main frame BD, a shaft 106 driven in avertical direction (the Z-axis direction) by drive section 104, and aholding section fixed to the lower end of shaft 106, such as, forexample, a disc-shaped Bernoulli chuck (also referred to as a floatchuck) 108.

As shown in a planar view in FIG. 2, at three places on the outerperiphery of Bernoulli chuck 108, extended portions 110 a, 110 b, and110 c are provided. At the tip of extended portion 110 c, a gap sensor112 is installed, and inside gap sensor 112, for example, an imagingdevice 114 c such as a CCD is installed. Further, in the vicinity of thetip of extended portions 110 a and 110 b, imaging devices 114 a and 114b are attached, such as a CCD, respectively.

As is known, the Bernoulli chuck is a chuck that utilizes the Bernoullieffect and fixes (suctions) the object in a non-contact manner bylocally increasing the flow velocity of a blown out fluid (e.g., air).The Bernoulli effect, here, refers to an effect that the Bernoulli'stheorem (principle) in which an increase in the speed of the fluidoccurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure has on fluidmachinery. In the Bernoulli chuck, the holding state (suction/floatingstate) is decided, according to the weight of the object to be suctioned(fixed), and the flow rate of the fluid which is blown, out from thechuck. More specifically, in the case the size of the object is known,the dimension of the gap between the chuck and the object to be heldupon holding is decided, depending on the flow rate of the fluid whichis blown out from the chuck. In the embodiment, the Bernoulli chuck isused to suction (fix/hold) wafer W.

As gap sensor 112, for example, a capacitive sensor is used, whichmeasures the distance between fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1) and aplate (a liquid repellent plate) that will be described later on in theperiphery of wafer W, mainly at the time of unloading wafer W. Theoutput of gap sensor 112 is supplied to main controller 20 (refer toFIG. 13).

Extended portion 110 a extends in the −X direction, when viewed from thecenter of Bernoulli chuck 108. In extended portion 110 a, imaging device114 a is attached to a position opposed to a notch (a V-shaped notch,not shown) of wafer W, in a state where the center of wafer Wsubstantially coincides with the center of Bernoulli chuck 108. Further,the remaining imaging devices 114 b and 114 c are attached to positionson extended portions 110 b and 110 c which are opposed to a part of theperiphery of wafer W, respectively, in a state where the center of waferW substantially coincides with the center of Bernoulli chuck 108.

The imaging signals of imaging devices 114 a to 114 c are sent to asignal processing system 116 (refer to FIG. 13), where signal processingsystem 116 detects a cut-out (such as a notch) of the wafer and theperiphery section besides the cut-out and obtains a positional shift anda rotational (a θz rotation) error of the wafer in the X-axis directionand the Y-axis direction, by a method disclosed in, for example, U.S.Pat. No. 6,624,433 and the like. Then, information on such positionalshift and rotational error is supplied to main controller 20 (refer toFIG. 13).

Drive section 104 of chuck unit 102 and Bernoulli chuck 108 arecontrolled by main controller 20 (refer to FIG. 13).

Furthermore, exposure apparatus 100 is equipped with a wafer carrier arm118 which is movable within an area including a position of chuck unit102, and a wafer delivery position (e.g., a wafer delivery position(unloading side and loading side) of a wafer between a coater developerwhich is connected in-line to exposure apparatus 100) away from theposition of chuck unit 102, for example, in the +X direction.

As it can be seen from FIGS. 1, 4A and the like, wafer stage WST1 has awafer coarse movement stage (hereinafter, shortly referred to as acoarse movement stage) WCS1, which is supported by levitation above baseboard 12 by a plurality of non-contact bearings, such as, for example,air bearings, provided on its bottom surface and is driven in an XYtwo-dimensional direction by a coarse movement stage drive system 51A(refer to FIG. 13), and a wafer fine movement stage (hereinafter,shortly referred to as a fine movement stage) WFS1, which is supportedin a non-contact manner by coarse movement stage WCS1 and is relativelymovable with respect to coarse movement stage WCS1. Fine movement stageWFS1 is driven by a fine movement stage drive system 52A (refer to FIG.13) with respect to coarse movement stage WCS1 in the X-axis direction,the Y-axis direction, the Z-axis direction, the θx direction, the θydirection, and the θz direction (hereinafter expressed as directions ofsix degrees of freedom, or directions of six degrees of freedom (X, Y,Z, θx, θy, θz)).

Positional information (also including rotation information in the θzdirection) in the XY plane of wafer stage WST1 (coarse movement stageWCS1) is measured by a wafer stage position measurement system 16A.Further, positional information in directions of six degrees of freedom(X, Y, Z, θx, θy, and θz) of fine movement stage WFS1 (or fine movementstage WFS2 which will be described later on) supported by coarsemovement stage WCS1 in exposure station 200 is measured by fine movementstage position measurement system 70A. Measurement results of waferstage position measurement system 16A and fine movement stage positionmeasurement system 70A are supplied to main controller 20 (refer to FIG.13) for position control of coarse movement stage WCS1 and fine movementstage WFS1 (or WFS2).

Similar to wafer stage WST1, wafer stage WST2 has a wafer coarsemovement stage WCS2, which is supported by levitation above base board12 by a plurality of non-contact bearings (e.g., air bearings (omittedin drawings)) provided on its bottom surface and is driven in the XYtwo-dimensional direction by a coarse movement stage drive system 51B(refer to FIG. 13), and a wafer fine movement stage WFS2, which issupported in a non-contact manner by coarse movement stage WCS2 and isrelatively movable with respect to coarse movement stage WCS2. Finemovement stage WFS2 is driven by a fine movement stage drive system 52B(refer to FIG. 13) with respect to coarse movement stage WCS2 indirections of six degrees of freedom (X, Y, Z, θx, θy, θz).

Positional information (also including rotation information in the θzdirection) in the XY plane of wafer stage WST2 (coarse movement stageWCS2) is measured by a wafer stage position measurement system 16B.Further, positional information in directions of six degrees of freedom(X, Y, Z, θx, θy, and θz) of fine movement stage WFS2 (or fine movementstage WFS1) supported by coarse movement stage WCS2 in measurementstation 300 is measured by fine movement stage position measurementsystem 70B. Measurement results of wafer stage position measurementsystem 16B and fine movement stage position measurement system 70B aresupplied to main controller 20 (refer to FIG. 13) for position controlof coarse movement stage WCS2 and fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1).

When fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) is supported by coarse movementstage WCS1, relative positional information of fine movement stage WFS1(or WFS2) and coarse movement stage WCS1 in directions of three degreesof freedom, which are X, Y, and θz, can be measured by a relativeposition measuring instrument 22A (refer to FIG. 13) provided in betweencoarse movement stage WCS1 and fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2).

Similarly, when fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1) is supported bycoarse movement stage WCS2, relative positional information of finemovement stage WFS2 (or WFS1), and coarse movement stage WCS2 indirections of three degrees of freedom, which are X, Y, and θz, can bemeasured by a relative position measuring instrument 22B (refer to FIG.13) provided in between coarse movement stage WCS2 and fine movementstage WFS2 (or WFS1).

As relative position measuring instruments 22A and 22B, for example, anencoder can be used which includes at least two heads arranged at coarsemovement stages WCS1 and WCS2, respectively, whose area subject tomeasurement are gratings provided on fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2,and measures a position of fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 in theX-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θz direction, based onan output of the heads. Measurement results of relative positionmeasuring instruments 22A and 22B are supplied to main controller 20(refer to FIG. 13).

Like coarse movement stage WCS1 and WCS2, relay stage DRST is supportedby levitation above base board 12 by a plurality of non-contact bearings(e.g., air bearings (omitted in drawings)) provided on its bottomsurface, and is drivable in the XY two-dimensional direction by a relaystage drive system 53 (refer to FIG. 13).

Positional information (also including rotation information in the θzdirection) in the XY plane of relay stage DRST is measured by a positionmeasurement system (not shown) including, for example, an interferometerand/or an encoder and the like. The measurement results of the positionmeasurement system is supplied to main controller 20 (refer to FIG. 13)for position control of relay stage DRST.

Configuration and the like of each of the parts configuring the stagesystem including the various measurement systems described above will beexplained in detail, later on.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, in exposure apparatus 100 of theembodiment, a movable blade BL is provided in the vicinity of projectionunit PU. Movable blade BL can be driven in the Z-axis direction and theY-axis direction by a blade drive system 58 (not shown in FIG. 5, referto FIG. 13). Movable blade BL is a moveable member having a flat surfaceas an upper surface to hold liquid Lq, and in the embodiment, is made ofa tabular member, which has a projecting portion formed on the upper endon the +Y side that projects out more than the other portions.

In the embodiment, the upper surface of movable blade BL has liquidrepellency to liquid Lq. In the embodiment, movable blade BL includes ametal base material such as stainless steel and the like, and a film ofa liquid-repellent material formed on the surface of the base material.The liquid-repellent material includes, for example, PFA (Tetra fluoroethylene-perfluoro alkylvinyl ether copolymer), PTFE (Poly tetra fluoroethylene), Teflon (a registered trademark) and the like. Incidentally,the material forming the film can be an acrylic-based resin or asilicone-based resin. Further, the whole movable blade BL can be formedof at least one of the PFA, PTFE, Teflon (a registered trademark),acrylic-based resin, and silicone-based resin. In the embodiment, thecontact angle of the upper surface of movable blade BL to liquid Lq is,for example, 90 degrees or more. Incidentally, the upper surface ofmovable blade BL can be non-liquid repellent (lyophilic), besides beingliquid repellent.

Movable blade BL engages with fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2), whichis supported by coarse movement stage WCS1, from the −Y side, and asurface appearing to be completely flat (for example, refer to FIG. 18)is formed in the engaged state with the upper surface of fine movementstage WFS1 (or WFS2). Movable blade BL is driven by main controller 20via blade drive system 58, and performs delivery of a liquid immersionspace area (liquid Lq) with fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2).Incidentally, the delivery of the liquid immersion space area (liquidLq) between movable blade BL and fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) willbe described further later on.

Besides this, in exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, a multiplepoint focal point position detection system (hereinafter shortlyreferred to as a multipoint AF system) AF (not shown in FIG. 2, refer toFIG. 12) having a similar configuration as the one disclosed in, forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,332 and the like, is arranged in thevicinity of projection unit PC. Detection signals of multipoint AFsystem AF are supplied to main controller 20 (refer to FIG. 12) via anAF signal processing system (not shown), Main controller 20 detectspositional information (surface position information) of the wafer Wsurface in the Z-axis direction at a plurality of detection points ofthe multipoint AF system AF based on detection signals of multipoint AFsystem AF, and performs a so-called focus leveling control of wafer Wduring the scanning exposure based on the detection results.Incidentally, positional information (unevenness information) of thewafer W surface can be acquired in advance at the time of waferalignment (EGA) by arranging the multipoint AF system in the vicinity ofalignment systems AL1 and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄, and at the time of exposure,the so-called focus leveling control of wafer W can be performed, usingthe surface position information and measurement values of a laserinterferometer system 75 (refer to FIG. 12) configuring a part of finemovement stage position measurement system 70A which will be describedlater on. In this case, multipoint AF system does not have to beprovided in the vicinity of projection unit PU. Incidentally,measurement values of an encoder system configuring fine movement stageposition measurement system 70A can also be used, rather than laserinterferometer system 75 in focus leveling control.

Further, in exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, as is disclosed indetail in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,413 and the like, a pair ofreticle alignment systems RA₁ and RA₂ (reticle alignment system RA₂ ishidden behind reticle alignment system RA₁ in the depth of the pagesurface in FIG. 1.) of an image processing method that has an imagingdevice such as a CCD and the like and uses a light (in the embodiment,illumination light IL) of the exposure wavelength as an illuminationlight for alignment is placed above reticle stage RST. The pair ofreticle alignment systems RA₁ and RA₂ is used, in a state where ameasurement plate to be described later on fine movement stage WFS1 (orWFS2) is positioned directly below projection optical system PL withmain controller 20 detecting a projection image of a pair of reticlealignment marks (omitted in drawings) formed on reticle R and acorresponding pair of first fiducial marks on the measurement plate viaprojection optical system PL, to detect a detection center of aprojection area of a pattern of reticle R and a reference position onthe measurement plate using projection optical system PL, namely todetect a positional relation with a center of the pair of first fiducialmarks. Detection signals of reticle alignment detection systems RA₁ andRA₂ are supplied to main controller 20 (refer to FIG. 13) via a signalprocessing system (not shown). Incidentally, reticle alignment systemsRA₁ and RA₂ do not have to be provided. In this case, it is desirablefor fine movement stage WFS to have a detection system in which a lighttransmitting section (light-receiving section) is installed so as todetect a projection image of the reticle alignment mark, as disclosedin, for example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0041377and the like.

Now, a configuration and the like of each part of the stage systems willbe described in detail. First of all, wafer stages WST1 and WST2 will bedescribed. In the embodiment, wafer stage WST1 and wafer stage WST2 areconfigured identically, including the drive system, the positionmeasurement system and the like. Accordingly, in the followingdescription, wafer stage WST1 will be taken up and described,representatively.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, coarse movement stage WCS1 is equipped witha rectangular plate shaped coarse movement slider section 91 whoselongitudinal direction is in the X-axis direction in a planar view (whenviewing from the direction), a pair of side wall sections 92 a and 92 bwhich are each fixed on the upper surface of coarse movement slidersection 91 on one end and the other end in the longitudinal direction,and a pair of rectangular plate-shaped stator sections 93 a and 93 bthat are fixed on each of the upper surfaces of side wall sections 92 aand 92 b and whose longitudinal direction is in the Y-axis direction. Asa whole, coarse movement stage WCS1 has a box like shape having a lowheight whose upper surface in a center in the X-axis direction andsurfaces on both sides in the Y-axis direction are open. Morespecifically, in coarse movement stage WCS1, a space is formed insidepenetrating in the Y-axis direction.

As shown in FIG. 6, coarse movement stage WSC1 is configured separableinto two sections, which are a first section WCS1 a and a second sectionTtCS1 b, with a separation line in the center in the longitudinaldirection of coarse movement slider section 91 serving as a boundary.Accordingly, coarse movement slider section 91 is configured of a firstslider section 91 a which structures a part of the first section WCS1 a,and a second slider section 91 b which structures a part of the secondsection WCS1 b.

On the bottom surface of coarse movement stage WCS1, or morespecifically, on the bottom surface of the first slider section 91 a andthe second slider section 91 b, a magnet unit is fixed consisting of aplurality of permanent magnets 18 placed in the shape of a matrix, asshown in FIG. 4A. In correspondence with the magnet unit, inside base12, a coil unit is housed, including a plurality of coils 14 placed inthe shape of a matrix with the XY two-dimensional direction serving as arow direction and a column direction, as shown in FIG. 1. The magnetunit configures coarse movement stage drive systems 51Aa and 51Ab (referto FIG. 13), consisting of a planar motor employing a Lorentzelectromagnetic drive method as is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat.No. 5,196,745, along with the coil unit of base board 12. The magnitudeand direction of current supplied to each of the coils 14 configuringthe coil unit are controlled by main controller 20 (refer to FIG. 13).

On the bottom surface of each of the first slider section 91 a and thesecond slider section 91 b, a plurality of air bearings 94 is fixedaround the magnet unit described above. The first section WCS1 a and thesecond section WCS1 b of coarse movement stage WCS1 are each supportedby levitation on base board 12 by a predetermined clearance, such asaround several μm, by air bearings 94, and are driven in the X-axisdirection, the Y-axis direction, and the θz direction by coarse movementstage drive systems 51Aa and 51Ab.

The first section WCS1 a and the second section WCS1 b are normallylocked integrally, via a lock mechanism (not shown). More specifically,the first section WCS1 a and the second section WCS1 b normally operateintegrally. Therefore, in the following description, a drive systemconsisting of a planar motor that drives coarse movement stage WCS1,which is made so that the first section WCS1 a and the second sectionWCS1 b are integrally formed, will be referred to as a coarse movementstage drive system 51A (refer to FIG. 13).

Incidentally, as coarse movement stage drive system 51A, the drivemethod is not limited to the planar motor using the Lorentzelectromagnetic force drive method, and for example, a planar motor by avariable reluctance drive system can also be used. Incidentally, theelectromagnetic force in the electromagnetic force drive method is notlimited to the Lorentz force. Besides this, coarse movement stage drivesystem 51A can be configured by a planar motor of a magnetic levitationtype. In this case, the air bearings will not have to be arranged on thebottom surface of coarse movement slider section 91.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 45, the pair of stator sections 93 a and 93 bis each made of a member with a tabular outer shape, and in the inside,coil units CUa and CUb are housed consisting of a plurality of coils todrive fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2). While fine movement stage WFS1and fine movement stage WFS2 are configured identically, and aresupported and driven similarly in a non-contact manner by coarsemovement stage WCS1 in this case, in the following description, finemovement stage WFS1 will be taken up and described, representatively.

Stator section 93 a has an end on the +X side fixed to the upper surfaceof side wall section 92 a, and stator section 93 b has an end on the −Xside fixed to the upper surface of side wall section 92 b.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, fine movement stage WFS1 is equipped with amain body section 81 consisting of an octagonal plate shape member whoselongitudinal direction is in the X-axis direction in a planar view, anda pair of mover sections 82 a and 82 b that are each fixed to one endand the other end of main body section 81 in the longitudinal direction.

Main body section 81 is formed of a transparent material through whichlight can pass, so that a measurement beam (a laser beam) of an encodersystem which will be described later can proceed inside the main bodysection. Further, main body section 81 is formed solid (does not haveany space inside) in order to reduce the influence of air fluctuation tothe laser beam inside the main body section. Incidentally, it ispreferable for the transparent material to have a low thermal expansion,and as an example in the embodiment, synthetic quarts (glass) is used.Incidentally, math body section 81 can be structured all by thetransparent material or only the section which the measurement beam ofthe encoder system passes through can be structured by the transparentmaterial, and only the section which this measurement beam passesthrough can be formed solid.

In the center of the upper surface of main body section 81 (to be moreprecise, a cover glass which will be described later) of fine movementstage WFS1, a wafer holder WH (not shown in FIGS. 4A and 4S, refer toFIG. 22A and the like) is arranged which holds wafer W by vacuum suctionor the like. In the embodiment, for example, a wafer holder of aso-called pin chuck method on which a plurality of support sections (pinmembers) supporting wafer W are formed within a loop shaped projectingsection (rim section) is used, and grating RG to be described later isprovided on the other surface (rear surface) of the wafer holder whoseone surface (surface) is a wafer mounting surface. Incidentally, thewafer holder can be formed integrally with fine movement stage WFS1, orcan be fixed to main body section 81, for example, via an electrostaticchuck mechanism, a clamping mechanism, or by adhesion and the like. Inthe former case, grating RG is to be provided on a back surface side offine movement stage WFS1.

Furthermore, on the upper surface of main body section 81 on the outerside of the wafer holder (mounting area of wafer W), as shown in FIGS.4A and 45, a plate (a liquid repellent plate) 83 is attached that has acircular opening one size larger than wafer W (the wafer holder) formedin the center, and also has an octagonal outer shape (contour)corresponding to main body section 81. In other words, on the surface ofplate 83, a film of a liquid-repellent material is formed. Theliquid-repellent material includes, for example, PFA (Tetra fluoroethylene-perfluoro alkylvinyl ether copolymer), PTFE (Poly tetra fluoroethylene), Teflon (a registered trademark) and the like. Incidentally,the material forming the film can be an acrylic-based resin or asilicone-based resin. Further, plate 83 can be formed of at least one ofthe PFA, PTFE, Teflon (a registered trademark), acrylic-based resin, andsilicone-based resin. The contact angle of the surface of plate 83 toliquid Lq is, for example, 90 degrees or more. A liquid repellenttreatment against liquid Lq is applied to the surface of plate 83 (aliquid repellent surface is formed). Plate 83 is fixed to the uppersurface of main body section 81, so that its entire surface (or a partof its surface) becomes substantially flush with the surface of wafer W.Further, on the −Y side end of plate 83, as shown in FIG. 4B, ameasurement plate 86, which has a narrow rectangular shape in the X-axisdirection, is set in a state where its surface is substantially flushwith the surface of plate 83, or more specifically, the surface of waferW. On the surface of measurement plate 86, at least the pair of firstfiducial marks previously described, and a second fiducial mark detectedby primary alignment system AL1 are formed (both the first and secondfiducial marks are omitted in the drawing). Incidentally, instead ofattaching plate 83 to main body section 81, for example, the waferholder can be formed integrally with fine movement stage WFS, and aliquid repellent treatment can be applied to the upper surface of finemovement stage WFS in a periphery area (an area the same as plate 83(can include the surface of measurement plate 86)) surrounding the waferholder.

As shown in FIG. 4A, on the upper surface of main body section 81, atwo-dimensional grating (hereinafter merely referred to as a grating) RGis placed horizontally (parallel to the wafer W surface). Grating RG isfixed (or formed) on the upper surface of main body section 81consisting of a transparent material. Grating RG includes a reflectiondiffraction grating (X diffraction grating) whose periodic direction isin the X-axis direction and a reflection diffraction grating (Ydiffraction grating) whose periodic direction is in the Y-axisdirection. In the embodiment, the area (hereinafter, forming area) onmain body section 81 where the two-dimensional grating is fixed orformed, as an example, is in a circular shape which is one size largerthan wafer W.

Grating RG is covered and protected with a protective member, such as,for example, a cover glass 84. In the embodiment, on the upper surfaceof cover glass 84, the holding mechanism previously described (theelectrostatic chuck mechanism and the like) to hold the wafer holder bysuction is provided. Incidentally, in the embodiment, while cover glass84 is provided so as to cover almost the entire surface of the uppersurface of main body section 81, cover glass 84 can be arranged so as tocover only a part of the upper surface of main body section 81 whichincludes grating RG. Further, while the protective member (cover glass84) can be formed of the same material as main body section 81, besidesthis, the protective member can be formed of, for example, metal orceramics. Further, although a plate shaped protective member isdesirable because a sufficient thickness is required to protect gratingRG, a thin film protective member can also be used depending on thematerial.

Incidentally, of the forming area of grating RG, on a surface of coverglass 84 corresponding to an area where the forming area spreads to theperiphery of the wafer holder, it is desirable, for example, to providea reflection member (e.g., a thin film and the like) which covers theforming area, so that the measurement beam of the encoder systemirradiated on grating RG does not pass through cover glass 84, or morespecifically, so that the intensity of the measurement beam does notchange greatly in the inside and the outside of the area on the rearsurface of the wafer holder.

As it can also be seen from FIG. 4A, main body section 81 consists of anoverall octagonal plate shape member that has an extending section whichextends outside on one end and the other end in the longitudinaldirection, and on its bottom surface, a recessed section is formed atthe section facing grating RG. Main body section 81 is formed so thatthe center area where grating RG is arranged is formed in a plate shapewhose thickness is substantially uniform.

On the upper surface of each of the extending sections on the +X sideand the −X side of main body section 81, spacers 85 a and 85 b having aprojecting shape when sectioned are provided, with each of theprojecting sections 89 a and 89 b extending outward in the Y-axisdirection.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, mover section 82 a includes two plate-likemembers 82 a ₁ and 82 a ₂ having a rectangular shape in a planar viewwhose size (length) in the Y-axis direction and size (width) in theX-axis direction are both shorter than stator section 93 a (around halfthe size). Plate-like members 82 a ₁ and 82 a ₂ are both fixed parallelto the XY plane, in a state set apart only by a predetermined distancein the Z-axis direction (vertically), via projecting section 89 a ofspacer 85 a previously described, with respect to the end on the +X sideof main body section 81. In this case, the −X side end of plate-likemember 82 a ₂ is clamped by spacer 85 a and the extending section on the+X side of main body section 81. Between the two plate-like members 82 a₁ and 82 a ₂, an end on the −X side of stator section 93 a of coarsemovement stage WCS1 is inserted in a non-contact manner. Insideplate-like members 82 a ₁ and 82 a ₂, magnet units MUa₁ and MUa₂ whichwill be described later are housed.

Mover section 82 b includes two plate-like members 82 b ₁ and 82 b ₂maintained at a predetermined distance in the Z-axis direction(vertically), and is configured in a similar mariner with mover section82 a, although being symmetrical. Between the two plate-like members 82b ₁ and 82 b ₂, an end on the +X side of stator section 93 b of coarsemovement stage WCS1 is inserted in a non-contact manner. Insideplate-like members 82 b ₁ and 82 b ₂, magnet units MUb₂ and MUb₂ arehoused, which are configured similar to magnet units MUa₁ and MUa₂.

Now, as is previously described, because the surface on both sides inthe Y-axis direction is open in coarse movement stage WCS1, whenattaching fine movement stage WFS1 to coarse movement stage WCS1, theposition of fine movement stage WFS1 in the Z-axis direction should bepositioned so that stator section 93 a, 93 b are located betweenplate-like members 82 a ₁ and 82 a ₂, and 82 b ₁ and 82 b ₂,respectively, and then fine movement stage WFS1 can be moved (slid) inthe Y-axis direction.

Fine movement stage drive system 52A includes the pair of magnet unitsMUa₁ and MUa₂ that mover section 82 a previously described has, coilunit CUa that stator section 93 a has, the pair of magnet units MUb₁ andMUb₂ that mover section 82 b previously described has, and coil unit CUbthat stator section 93 b has.

This will be explained further in detail. As it can be seen from FIG. 7,at the end on the −X side inside of stator section 93 a, two lines ofcoil rows, which are a plurality of (in this case, twelve) YZ coils 55and 57 having a rectangular shape in a planar view that are placedequally spaced apart in the Y-axis direction, and one X coil 56, whichis narrow and has a rectangular shape in a planar view and whoselongitudinal direction is in the Y-axis direction, are placed spacedequally apart in the X-axis direction. YZ coils 55 and 57 have an upperpart winding and a lower part winding in a rectangular shape in a planarview that are disposed such that they overlap in the vertical direction(the Z-axis direction). Coil unit CUa is configured including the twolines of coil rows and X coil 56.

Inside plate-like members 82 a ₁ and 82 a ₂ configuring a part of moversection 82 a of fine movement stage WFS1, as it can be seen referring toFIG. 7, two lines of magnet rows which are a plurality of (in this case,ten) permanent magnets 65 a and 67 a placed equally spaced in the Y-axisdirection, and a pair (two) of permanent magnets 66 a ₁ and 66 a ₂ whoselongitudinal direction is in the Y-axis direction are placed in aplacement corresponding to the placement of each of the coils describedabove.

The plurality of permanent magnets 65 a and 67 a configuring each magnetrow are placed in an arrangement where the magnets have a polarity whichis alternately a reverse polarity to each other. Further, the pair ofpermanent magnets 66 a ₁ and 66 a ₂ is placed so that the polarity toeach other is a reverse polarity. Magnet unit MUa₁ and MUa₂ areconfigured by the two lines of magnet rows and the pair of permanentmagnets.

Incidentally, inside the other stator section 93 b and mover section 82b, coils and permanent magnets are placed in an arrangement similar tocoil unit CUa and magnet unit MUa₁ and MUa₂ inside stator section 93 aand mover section 82 a, and by these arrangements, coil unit Cub andmagnet units MUb₁ and MUb₂ are configured, respectively.

Because a placement of each of the coils and permanent magnets as in thedescription above is employed in the embodiment, main controller 20 candrive fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axis direction by supplying anelectric current alternately to the plurality of YZ coils 55 and 57 thatare arranged in the Y-axis direction. Further, along with this, bysupplying electric current to coils of YZ coils 55 and 57 that are notused to drive fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axis direction, maincontroller 20 can generate a drive force in the Z-axis directionseparately from the drive force in the Y-axis direction and make finemovement stage WFS1 levitate from coarse movement stage WCS1. And, maincontroller 20 drives fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axis directionwhile maintaining the levitated state of fine movement stage WFS1 withrespect to coarse movement stage WCS1, namely a noncontact state, bysequentially switching the coil subject to current supply according tothe position of fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axis direction.Further, main controller 20 can drive fine movement stage WFS1 in theY-axis direction in a state where fine movement stage WFS1 is levitatedfrom coarse movement stage WCS1, as well as independently drive the finemovement stage in the X-axis direction.

As it can be seen from the description above, in the embodiment, finemovement stage drive system 52A supports fine movement stage WFS1 bylevitation in a non-contact state with respect to coarse movement stageWCS1, and can also drive fine movement stage WFS1 in a non-contactmanner in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axisdirection with respect to coarse movement stage WCS1. Further, maincontroller 20 can make fine movement stage WFS1 rotate around the Z-axis(θz rotation) (refer to the outlined arrow in FIG. 8A), by applying adrive force (thrust) in the Y-axis direction having a differentmagnitude to both mover section 82 a and mover section 82 b (refer tothe black arrow in FIG. 8A). Further, main controller 20 can make finemovement stage WFS1 rotate around the Y-axis (θy drive) (refer to theoutlined arrow in FIG. 8B), by applying a different levitation force(refer to the black arrows in FIG. 8B) to both mover section 82 a andmover section 82 b. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8C, for example, maincontroller 20 can make fine movement stage WFS1 rotate around the X-axis(θx drive) (refer to the outlined arrow in FIG. 8C), by applying adifferent levitation force to both mover sections 82 a and 82 b of finemovement stage WFS1 on the + side and, the − side in the Y-axisdirection (refer to the black arrow in FIG. 8C).

Further, in the embodiment, by supplying electric current to the twolines of coils 55 and 57 (refer to FIG. 7) placed inside stator section93 a in directions opposite to each other when applying the levitationforce to fine movement stage WFS1, for example, main controller 20 canapply a rotational force (refer to the outlined arrow in FIG. 9) aroundthe Y-axis simultaneously with the levitation force (refer to the blackarrow in FIG. 9) with respect to mover section 82 a, as shown in FIG. 9.Similarly, by supplying electric current to the two lines of coilsplaced inside stator section 93 b in directions opposite to each otherwhen applying the levitation force to fine movement stage WFS, forexample, main controller 20 can apply a rotational force around theY-axis simultaneously with the levitation force with respect to moversection 82 a.

Further, by applying a rotational force around the Y-axis (a force inthe θy direction) to each of the pair of mover sections 82 a and 82 b indirections opposite to each other, main controller 20 can deflect thecenter of fine movement stage WFS1 in the +Z direction or the −Zdirection (refer to the hatched arrow in FIG. 9). Accordingly, as shownin FIG. 9, by bending the center of fine movement stage WFS1 in the +Zdirection (in a convex shape), the deflection in the middle part of finemovement stage WFS1 (main body section 81) in the X-axis direction dueto the self-weight of wafer W and main body section 81 can be canceledout, and degree of parallelization of the wafer W surface with respectto the XY plane (horizontal surface) can be secured. This isparticularly effective, in the case such as when the diameter of wafer Wbecomes large and fine movement stage WFS1 also becomes large.

Further, when wafer W is deformed by its own weight and the like, thereis a risk that the surface of wafer W mounted on fine movement stageWFS1 will no longer be within the range of the depth of focus ofprojection optical system PL within the irradiation area (exposure areaIA) of illumination light IL. Therefore, similar to the case describedabove where main controller 20 deflects the center in the X-axisdirection of fine movement stage WFS1 to the +Z direction, by applying arotational force around the Y-axis to each of the pair of mover sections82 a and 82 b in directions opposite to each other, wafer W is deformedto be substantially flat, and the surface of wafer W within exposurearea IA can fall within the range of the depth of focus of projectionoptical system PL. Incidentally, while FIG. 9 shows an example wherefine movement stage WFS1 is bent in the +Z direction (a convex shape),fine movement stage WFS1 can also be bent in a direction opposite tothis (a concave shape) by controlling the direction of the electriccurrent supplied to the coils.

Incidentally, the method of making fine movement stage WFS1 (and wafer Wheld by this stage) deform in a concave shape or a convex shape within asurface (XZ plane) perpendicular to the Y-axis can be applied, not onlyin the case of correcting deflection caused by its own weight and/orfocus leveling control, but also in the case of employing asuper-resolution technology which substantially increases the depth offocus by changing the position in the Z-axis direction at apredetermined point within the range of the depth of focus, while thepredetermined point within the shot area of wafer W crosses exposurearea IA, as is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Reissued Pat. No.RE37,391 and the like.

In exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, at the time of exposureoperation by the step-and-scan method to wafer W, positional information(including the positional information in the θz direction) in the XYplane of fine movement stage WFS1 is measured by main controller 20using an encoder system 73 (refer to FIG. 13) of fine movement stageposition measurement system 70A which will be described later on. Thepositional information of fine movement stage WFS1 is sent to maincontroller 20, which controls the position of fine movement stage WFS1based on the positional information.

On the other hand, when wafer stage WST1 (fine movement stage WFS1) islocated outside the measurement area of fine movement stage positionmeasurement system 70A, the positional information of wafer stage WST1(fine movement stage WFS1) is measured by main controller 20 using waferstage position measurement system 16A (refer to FIGS. 1 and 13). Asshown in FIG. 1, wafer stage position measurement system 16A includes alaser interferometer which irradiates a measurement beam on a reflectionsurface formed on the coarse movement stage WCS1 side surface by mirrorpolishing and measures positional information of wafer stage WST1 in theXY plane. Incidentally, the positional information of wafer stage WST1in the XY plane can be measured using other measurement devices, such asfor example, an encoder system, instead of wafer stage positionmeasurement system 16A described above. In this case, for example, atwo-dimensional scale can be placed on the upper surface of base board12, and an encoder head can be attached to the bottom surface of coarsemovement stage WCS1.

As is previously described, fine movement stage WFS2 is configuredidentical to fine movement stage WFS1 described above, and can besupported in a non-contact manner by coarse movement stage WCS1 insteadof fine movement stage WFS1. In this case, coarse movement stage WCS1and fine movement stage WFS2 supported by coarse movement stage WCS1configure wafer stage WST1, and a pair of mover sections (one pair eachof magnet units MUa₁ and MUa₂, and MUb₁ and MUb₂) equipped in finemovement stage WFS2 and a pair of stator sections 93 a and 93 b (coilunits CUa and CUb) of coarse movement stage WCS1 configure fine movementstage drive system 52A. And by this fine movement stage drive system52A, fine movement stage WFS2 is driven in a non-contact manner indirections of six degrees of freedom with respect to coarse movementstage WCS1

Further, fine movement stages WFS2 and WFS1 can each make coarsemovement stage WCS2 support them in a non-contact manner, and coarsemovement stage WCS2 and fine movement stage WFS2 or WFS1 supported bycoarse movement stage WCS2 configure wafer stage WST2. In this case, apair of mover sections (one pair each of magnet units MUa₁ and MUa₂, andMUb₁ and MUb₂) equipped in fine movement stage WFS2 or WFS1 and a pairof stator sections 93 a and 93 b (coil units CUa and Cub) of coarsemovement stage WCS2 configure fine movement stage drive system 52B(refer to FIG. 13). And by this fine movement stage drive system 52B,fine movement stage WFS2 or WFS1 is driven in a non-contact manner indirections of six degrees of freedom with respect to coarse movementstage WCS2.

Referring back to FIG. 1, relay stage DRST is equipped with a stage mainsection 44 configured similar to coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2(however, it is not structured so that it can be divided into a firstsection and a second section), and a carrier apparatus 46 (refer to FIG.13) provided inside stage main section 44. Accordingly, stage mainsection 44 can support (hold) fine movement stage WFS1 WFS2 in anon-contact manner as in coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2, and thefine movement stage supported by relay stage DRST can be driven indirections of six degrees of freedom (X, Y, Z, θx, θy, and θz) by finemovement stage drive system 52C (refer to FIG. 13) with respect to relaystage DRST. However, the fine movement stage should be slidable at leastin the Y-axis direction with respect to relay stage DRST.

Carrier apparatus 46 is equipped with a carrier member main sectionwhich is reciprocally movable in the Y-axis direction with apredetermined stroke along both of the side walls in the X-axisdirection of stage main section 44 of relay stage DST and is verticallymovable also in the Z-axis direction with a predetermined stroke, acarrier member 48 including a movable member which can relatively movein the Y-axis direction with respect to the carrier member main sectionwhile holding fine movement stage WFS1 or WFS2, and a carrier memberdrive system 54 (refer to FIG. 13) which can individually drive thecarrier member main section configuring carrier member 48 and themovable member.

Next, a configuration of fine movement stage position measurement system70A (refer to FIG. 13) used to measure the positional information offine movement stage WFS1 or WFS2 (configuring wafer stage WST1) which ismovably held by coarse movement stage WCS1 in exposure station 200, willbe described. In this case, the case will be described where finemovement stage position measurement system 70A measures the positionalinformation of fine movement stage WFS1.

As shown in FIG. 1, fine movement stage position measurement system 70Ais equipped with an arm member (a measurement arm 71A) which is insertedin a space inside coarse movement stage WCS1, in a state where waferstage WST1 is placed below projection optical system PL. Measurement arm71A is supported cantilevered (supported in the vicinity of one end)from main frame BD via a support member 72A. Incidentally, in the case aconfiguration is employed where the measurement members do not interferewith the movement of the wafer stage, the configuration is not limitedto the cantilever support, and both ends in the longitudinal directioncan be supported. Further, the arm member should be located furtherbelow (the −Z side) grating RG (the placement plane substantiallyparallel to the XY plane) previously described, and for example, can beplaced lower than the upper surface of base board 12. Furthermore, whilethe arm member was to be supported by main frame BD, for example, thearm member can be installed on an installation surface (such as a floorsurface) via a vibration isolation mechanism. In this case, it isdesirable to arrange a measuring device which measures a relativepositional relation between main frame BD and the arm member. The armmember can also be referred to as a metrology arm or a measurementmember.

Measurement arm 71A is a square column shaped (that is, a rectangularsolid shape) member having a longitudinal rectangular cross sectionwhose longitudinal direction is in the Y-axis direction and size in aheight direction (the Z-axis direction) is larger than the size in awidth direction (the X-axis direction), and is made of a material whichis the same that transmits light, such as, for example, a glass memberaffixed in plurals. Measurement arm 71A is formed solid, except for theportion where the encoder head (an optical system) which will bedescribed later is housed. In the state where wafer stage WST1 is placedbelow projection optical system PL as previously described, the tip ofmeasurement arm 71A is inserted into the space of coarse movement stageWCS1, and its upper surface faces the lower surface (to be more precise,the lower surface of main body section 81 (not shown in FIG. 1, refer toFIG. 4A) of fine movement stage WFS1 as shown in FIG. 1. The uppersurface of measurement arm 71A is placed almost parallel with the lowersurface of fine movement stage WFS1, in a state where a predeterminedclearance, such as, for example, around several mm, is formed with thelower surface of fine movement stage WFS1. Incidentally, the clearancebetween the upper surface of measurement arm 71A and the lower surfaceof fine movement stage WFS1 can be more than or less than several mm.

As shown in FIG. 13, fine movement stage position measurement system 70Ais equipped with encoder system 73 and laser interferometer system 75.Encoder system 73 includes an X linear encoder 73 x measuring theposition of fine movement stage WFS1 in the X-axis direction, and a pairof Y linear encoders 73 ya and 73 yb measuring the position of finemovement stage WFS1 in the Y-axis direction. In encoder system 73, ahead of a diffraction interference type is used that has a configurationsimilar to an encoder head (hereinafter shortly referred to as a head)disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,238,931, U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2007/288121 and the like. However, in theembodiment, a light source and a photodetection system (including aphotodetector) of the head are placed external to measurement arm 71A asin the description later on, and only an optical system is placed insidemeasurement arm 71A, or more specifically, facing grating RG. An opticalsystem placed inside of measurement arm 71A is referred to as a headappropriately as follows.

Encoder system 73 measures the position of fine movement stage WFS1 inthe X-axis direction using one X head 77 x (refer to FIGS. 10A and 10B),and the position in the Y-axis direction using a pair of Y heads 77 yaand 77 yb (refer to FIG. 10B), More specifically, X linear encoder 73 xpreviously described is configured by X head 77 x which measures theposition of fine movement stage WFS1 in the X-axis direction using an Xdiffraction grating of grating RG, and the pair of Y linear encoders 73ya and 73 yb is configured by the pair of Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb whichmeasures the position of fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axisdirection using a Y diffraction grating of grating RG.

A configuration of three heads 77 x, 77 ya, and 77 yb which configureencoder system 73 will now be described. FIG. 10A representatively showsa rough configuration of X head 77 x, which represents three heads 77 x,77 ya, and 77 yb. Further, FIG. 10B shows a placement of each of the Xhead 77 x, and Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb within measurement arm 71A.

As shown in FIG. 10A, X head 77 x is equipped with a polarization beamsplitter PBS whose separation plane is parallel to the YZ plane, a pairof reflection mirrors R1 a and R1 b, lenses L2 a and L2 b, quarterwavelength plates (hereinafter, described as λ/4 plates) WP1 a and WP1b, reflection mirrors R2 a and R2 b, and reflection mirrors R1 a and R3b and the like, and these optical elements are placed in a predeterminedpositional relation. Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb also have an optical systemwith a similar structure. As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, X head 77 x, Yheads 77 ya and 77 yb are unitized and each fixed inside of measurementarm 71A.

As shown in FIG. 10B, in X head 77 x (X linear encoder 73 x), a laserbeam LBx₀ is emitted in the −Z direction from a light source LDxprovided on the upper surface (or above) at the end on the −Y side ofmeasurement arm 71A, and its optical path is bent to become parallelwith the 1-axis direction via a reflection surface RP which is providedon a part of measurement arm 71A inclined at an angle of 45 degrees withrespect to the XY plane. This laser beam LBx₀ travels through the solidsection inside measurement arm 71A in parallel with the longitudinaldirection (the Y-axis direction) of measurement arm 71A, and reachesreflection mirror R3 a (refer to FIG. 10A). Then, the optical path oflaser beam LBx₀ is bent by reflection mirror R3 a and is incident onpolarization beam splitter PBS. Laser beam LBx₀ is split by polarizationby polarization beam splitter PBS into two measurement beams LBx₁ andLBx₂. Measurement beam LBx₁ having been transmitted through polarizationbeam splitter PBS reaches grating RG formed on fine movement stage WFS1,via reflection mirror R1 a, and measurement beam LBx₂ reflected offpolarization beam splitter PBS reaches grating RG via reflection mirrorR1 b. Incidentally, “split by polarization,” in this case means thesplitting of an incident beam into a P-polarization component and anS-polarization component.

Predetermined-order diffraction beams that are generated from grating RGdue to irradiation of measurement beams LBx₁ and LBx₂, such as, forexample, the first-order diffraction beams are severally converted intoa circular polarized light by λ/4 plates WP1 a and WP1 b via lenses L2 aand L2 b, and reflected by reflection mirrors R2 a and R2 b and then thebeams pass through λ/4 plates WP1 a and WP1 b again and reachpolarization beam splitter PBS by tracing the same optical path in thereversed direction.

Each of the polarization directions of the two first-order diffractionbeams that have reached polarization beam splitter PBS is rotated at anangle of 90 degrees with respect to the original direction. Therefore,the first-order diffraction beam of measurement beam LBx₁ having passedthrough polarization beam splitter PBS first, is reflected offpolarization beam splitter PBS. The first-order diffraction beam ofmeasurement beam LBx₂ having been reflected off polarization beamsplitter PBS first, passes through polarization beam splitter PBS. Thiscoaxially synthesizes the first-order diffraction beams of each of themeasurement beams LBx₁ and LBx₂ as a synthetic beam LBx₁₂. Syntheticbeam. LBx₁₂ has its optical path bent by reflection mirror R3 b so itbecomes parallel to the Y-axis, travels inside measurement arm 71Aparallel to the Y-axis, and then is sent to an X photodetection system74 x provided on the upper surface (or above) at the end on the −Y sideof measurement arm 71A shown in FIG. 10B via reflection surface RPpreviously described.

In X photodetection system 74 x, the polarization direction of thefirst-order diffraction beams of beams LBx₂, and LBx₂ synthesized assynthetic beam LBx₁₂ is arranged by a polarizer (analyzer) (not shown)and the beams overlay each other so as to form an interference light,which is detected by the photodetector and is converted into an electricsignal in accordance with the intensity of the interference light. Whenfine movement stage WFS1 moves in the measurement direction (in thiscase, the X-axis direction) here, a phase difference between the twobeams changes, which changes the intensity of the interference light.This change of the intensity of the interference light is supplied tomain controller 20 (refer to FIG. 13) as positional information relatedto the X-axis direction of fine movement stage WFS1.

As shown in FIG. 10B, laser beams LBya₀ and LByb₀, which are emittedfrom light sources LDya and LDyb, respectively, and whose optical pathsare bent by an angle of 90 degrees so as to become parallel to theY-axis by reflection surface RP previously described, are incident on Yheads 77 ya and 77 yb, and similar to the previous description, from Yheads 77 ya and 77 yb, synthetic beams LBya₁₂ and LByb₁₂ of thefirst-order diffraction beams by grating RG (Y diffraction grating) ofeach of the measurement beams split by polarization by the polarizationbeam splitter are output, respectively, and return to Y photodetectionsystems 74 ya and 74 yb. Now, laser beams LBya₀ and LByb₀ emitted fromlight sources LDya and LDyb, and synthetic beams LBya₁₂ and LByb₁₂returning to Y photodetection systems 74 ya and 74 yb, each pass anoptical path which are overlaid in a direction perpendicular to the pagesurface of FIG. 10B. Further, as described above, in heads 77 ya and 77yb, optical paths are appropriately bent (omitted in drawings) inside sothat laser beams LBya₀ and LByb₀ irradiated from the light source andsynthetic beams LBya₁₂ and LByb₁₂ returning to Y photodetection systems74 ya and 74 yb pass optical paths which are parallel and distancedapart in the Z-axis direction.

FIG. 11A shows a tip of measurement arm 71A in a perspective view, andFIG. 11B shows an upper surface of the tip of measurement arm 71A in aplanar view when viewed from the +Z direction. As shown in FIGS. 11A and1113, X head 77 x irradiates measurement beams LBx₁ and LBx₂ (indicatedby a solid line in FIG. 12A) from two points (refer to the white circlesin FIG. 12B) on a straight line LX parallel to the X-axis that are at anequal distance from a center line CL of measurement arm 71, on the sameirradiation point on grating RG (refer to FIG. 10A). The irradiationpoint of measurement beams LBx₁ and LBx₂, that is, a detection point ofX head 77 x (refer to reference code DP in FIG. 11B) coincides with anexposure position which is the center of an irradiation area (exposurearea) IA of illumination light IL irradiated on wafer W (refer to FIG.1). Incidentally, while measurement beams LBx₁ and LBx₂ are actuallyrefracted at a boundary and the like of main body section 81 and anatmospheric layer, it is shown simplified in FIG. 10A and the like.

As shown in FIG. 10B, each of the pair of Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb areplaced on the +X side and the −X side of center line CL. As shown in.FIGS. 11A and 11B, Y head 77 ya irradiates measurement beams LBya₁ andLBya₂ that are each shown by a broken line in FIG. 11A on a commonirradiation point on grating RG from two points (refer to the whitecircles in FIG. 11B) which are distanced equally from straight line LXon a straight line LYa which is parallel to the Y-axis. The irradiationpoint of measurement beams LBya₁ and LBya₂, that is, a detection pointof Y head 77 ya is shown by reference code DPya in FIG. 11B.

Y head 77 yb irradiates measurement beams LByb₁ and LByb₂ from twopoints (refer to the white circles in FIG. 11B) which are symmetrical tothe two outgoing points of measurement beams LBya₁ and LBya₂ withrespect to center line CL, on a common irradiation point DPyb on gratingRG. As shown in FIG. 11B, detection points DPya and DPyb of Y heads 77ya and 77 yb, respectively, are placed on straight line LX which isparallel to the X-axis.

Now, main controller 20 determines the position of fine movement stageWFS1 in the Y-axis direction, based on an average of the measurementvalues of the two Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb. Accordingly, in theembodiment, the position of fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axisdirection is measured with a midpoint DP of detection points DPya andDPyb serving as a substantial measurement point. Midpoint DP coincideswith the irradiation point of measurement beams LBx₁ and LBX2 on gratingRG.

More specifically, in the embodiment, there is a common detection pointregarding measurement of positional information of fine movement stageWFS1 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and thisdetection point coincides with the exposure position, which is thecenter of irradiation area (exposure area) IA of illumination light ILirradiated on wafer W. Accordingly, in the embodiment, by using encodersystem 73, main controller 20 can constantly perform measurement of thepositional information of fine movement stage WFS1 in the XY plane,directly under (at the back side of fine movement stage WFS1) theexposure position when transferring a pattern of reticle R on apredetermined shot area of wafer W mounted on fine movement stage WFS1.Further, main controller 20 measures a rotational amount of finemovement stage WFS in the θz direction, based on a difference of themeasurement values of the pair of Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb.

As shown in FIG. 11A, laser interferometer system 75 makes threemeasurement beams LBz₁, LBz₂, and LBz₃ enter the lower surface of finemovement stage WFS1 from the tip of measurement arm 71A. Laserinterferometer system 75 is equipped with three laser interferometers 75a to 75 c (refer to FIG. 13) that irradiate three measurement beamsLBz₁, LBz₂, and LBz₃, respectively.

In laser interferometer system 75, three measurement beams LBz₁, LBz₂,and LBz₃ are emitted in parallel with the Z-axis from each of the threepoints that are not collinear on the upper surface of measurement arm71A, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B. Now, as shown in FIG. 11B, threemeasurement beams LBz₁, LBz₂, and LBz₃ are each irradiated from threepoints corresponding to the apexes of an isosceles triangle (or anequilateral triangle) whose centroid coincides with the exposure areawhich is the center of irradiation area (exposure area) IA. In thiscase, the outgoing point (irradiation point) of measurement beam LBz₃ islocated on center line CL, and the outgoing points (irradiation points)of the remaining measurement beams LBz₁ and LBz₂ are equidistant fromcenter line CL. In the embodiment, main controller 20 measures theposition in the Z-axis direction, the rotational amount in the θxdirection and the θy direction of fine movement stage WFS1, using laserinterferometer system 75. Incidentally, laser interferometers 75 a to 75c are provided on the upper surface (or above) at the end on the −Y sideof measurement arm 71A. Measurement beams LBz₁, LBz₂, and LBz₂ emittedin the −Z direction from laser interferometers 75 a to 75 c travelwithin measurement arm 71A along the Y-axis direction via reflectionsurface RP1 previously described, and each of their optical paths isbent so that the beams are emitted from the three points describedabove.

In the embodiment, on the lower surface of fine movement stage WFS1, awavelength selection filter (omitted in drawings) which transmits eachmeasurement beam from encoder system 73 and blocks the transmission ofeach measurement beam from laser interferometer system 75 is provided.In this case, the wavelength selection filter also serves as areflection surface of each of the measurement beams from laserinterferometer system 75. As the wavelength selection filter, a thinfilm and the like having wavelength-selectivity is used and in theembodiment, the wavelength selection filter is provided, for example, onone surface of the transparent plate (main body section 81), and gratingRG is placed on the wafer holder side with respect to the one surface.

As it can be seen from the description so far, main controller 20 canmeasure the position of fine movement stage WFS1 in directions of sixdegrees of freedom by using encoder system 73 and laser interferometersystem 75 of fine movement stage position measurement system 70A. Inthis case, since the optical path lengths of the measurement beams areextremely short and also are almost equal to each other in encodersystem 73, the influence of air fluctuation can mostly be ignored.Accordingly, by encoder system 73, positional information of finemovement stage WFS1 within the XY plane (including the θz direction) canbe measured with high accuracy. Further, because the substantialdetection points on the grating in the X-axis direction and the Y-axisdirection by encoder system 73 and detection points on the lower surfaceof fine movement stage WFS in the Z-axis direction by laserinterferometer system 75 coincide with the center (exposure position) ofexposure area IA within the XY plane, respectively, generation of theso-called Abbe error caused by a shift within the XY plane of thedetection point and the exposure position is suppressed to asubstantially ignorable degree. Accordingly, by using fine movementstage position measurement system 70A, main controller 20 can measurethe position of fine movement stage WFS1 in the X-axis direction, theY-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction with high precision, withoutany Abbe errors caused by a shift within the XY plane of the detectionpoint and the exposure position. Further, in the case coarse movementstage WCS1 is below projection unit PU and fine movement stage WFS2 ismovably supported by coarse movement stage WCS1, by using fine movementstage position measurement system 70A, main controller 20 can measurethe position in directions of six degrees of freedom of fine movementstage WFS2 and especially the position of fine movement stage WFS2 inthe X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction canbe measured with high precision, without any Abbe errors.

Further, fine movement stage position measurement system 708 whichmeasurement station 300 is equipped with, is configured almost similarto fine movement stage position measurement system 70A, but in asymmetric manner, as shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, measurement arm 71Bwhich fine movement stage position measurement system 703 is equippedwith has a longitudinal direction in the Y-axis direction, and thevicinity of the end on the +Y side is supported almost cantilevered frommain frame BD, via support member 72B.

In the case coarse movement stage WCS2 is below aligner 99 and finemovement stage WFS2 or WFS1 is movably supported by coarse movementstage WCS2, by using fine movement stage position measurement system70B, main controller 20 can measure the position in directions of sixdegrees of freedom of fine movement stage WFS2 or WFS1 and especiallythe position of fine movement stage WFS2 or WFS1 in the X-axisdirection, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction can bemeasured with high precision, without any Abbe errors.

FIG. 13 shows the main configuration of the control system of exposureapparatus 100. The control system is mainly configured of maincontroller 20. Main controller 20 includes a workstation (or amicrocomputer) and the like, and has overall control over each part ofexposure apparatus 100, such as local liquid immersion device 8, coarsemovement stage drive systems 51A and 51B, fine movement stage drivesystems 52A and 528, and relay stage drive system 53 and the likepreviously described.

In exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment structured in the mannerdescribed above, when manufacturing a device, exposure by thestep-and-scan method is performed on wafer W held by one of the finemovement stages (in this case, WFS1, as an example) held by coarsemovement stage WCS1 located in exposure station 200, and a pattern ofreticle R is transferred on each of a plurality of shot areas on waferW. The exposure operation by this step-and scan method is performed bymain controller 20, by repeating a movement operation between shots inwhich wafer stage WST1 is moved to a scanning starting position (anacceleration starting position) for exposure of each shot area on waferW, and a scanning exposure operation in which a pattern formed onreticle R is transferred onto each of the shot areas by the scanningexposure method, based on results of wafer alignment (for example,information on array coordinates of each shot area on wafer W obtainedby enhanced global alignment (EGA) that has been converted into acoordinate which uses the second fiducial marks as a reference) that hasbeen performed beforehand, and results of reticle alignment and thelike. Incidentally, the exposure operation described above is performed,in a state where liquid Lq is held in a space between tip lens 191 andwafer W, or more specifically, by liquid immersion exposure. Further,exposure is performed in the following order, from the shot area locatedon the +Y side on wafer W to the shot area located on the −Y side.Incidentally, details on EGA are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat.No. 4,780,617 and the like.

In exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, during the series ofexposure operations described above, main controller 20 measures theposition of fine movement stage WFS1 (wafer W) using fine movement stageposition measurement system 70A, and the position of wafer W iscontrolled based on the measurement results.

Incidentally, while wafer W has to be driven with high acceleration inthe Y-axis direction at the time of scanning exposure operationdescribed above, in exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, maincontroller 20 scans wafer W in the Y-axis direction by driving (refer tothe black arrow in FIG. 12A) only fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axisdirection (and in directions of the other five degrees of freedom, ifnecessary), without driving coarse movement stage WCS1 in principle atthe time of scanning exposure operation as shown in FIG. 12A. This isbecause when moving only fine movement stage WFS1, weight of the driveobject is lighter when comparing with the case where coarse movementstage WCS1 is driven, which allows an advantage of being able to drivewafer W with high acceleration. Further, because position measuringaccuracy of fine movement stage position measurement system 70A ishigher than wafer stage position measurement system 16A as previouslydescribed, it is advantageous to drive fine movement stage WFS1 at thetime of scanning exposure. Incidentally, at the time of this scanningexposure, coarse movement stage WCS1 is driven to the opposite side offine movement stage WFS1 by an operation of a reaction force (refer tothe outlined arrow in FIG. 12A) by the drive of fine movement stageWFS1. More specifically, because coarse movement stage WCS1 functions asa countermass, momentum of the system consisting of the entire waferstage WST1 is conserved, and centroid shift does not occur,inconveniences such as unbalanced load acting on base board 12 by thescanning drive of fine movement stage WFS1 do not occur.

Meanwhile, when movement (stepping) operation between shots in theX-axis direction is performed, because movement capacity in the X-axisdirection of fine movement stage WFS1 is small, main controller 20 moveswafer W in the X-axis direction by driving coarse movement stage WCS1 inthe X-axis direction as shown in FIG. 12B.

In parallel with exposure to wafer W on fine movement stage WFS1described above, wafer exchange, wafer alignment, and the like areperformed on the other fine movement stage WFS2. Wafer exchange isperformed, by unloading wafer W which has been exposed from above finemovement stage WFS2 by chuck unit 102 and wafer carrier arm 118, as wellas loading a new wafer W on fine movement stage WFS2 when coarsemovement stage WCS2 supporting fine movement stage WFS2 is at apredetermined wafer exchange position (a position below chuck unit 102previously described) in the vicinity of measurement station 300.

Now, the wafer exchange will be described in detail. Incidentally, thesuction and the release of the suction of the wafer by the wafer holderwill be described further in detail later on; therefore, the operationof chuck unit 102 at the time of wafer exchange will be mainlydescribed.

As a premise of beginning the wafer exchange, fine movement stage WFS2holding wafer W which has been exposed is to be at the wafer exchangeposition under chuck unit 102, being supported by coarse movement stageWCS2 (refer to FIG. 3).

First of all, main controller 20 controls drive section 104 of chuckunit 102, and drives Bernoulli chuck 108 downward (refer to FIG. 14A).During this drive, main controller 20 monitors the measurement values ofgap sensor 112. And when the measurement value of gap sensor 112 reachesa predetermined value, such as, for example, around several μm, maincontroller 20 stops the downward drive of Bernoulli chuck 108, andadjusts the flow rate of the air the blowing out from Bernoulli chuck108 so as to maintain the gap of several μm. This allows wafer W to beheld by suction in a non-contact manner from above by Bernoulli chuck108, via a clearance of around several μm (refer to FIG. 15A).

Then, main controller 20 controls drive section 104 and drives Bernoullichuck 108 upward which holds wafer W by suction in a non-contact mariner(refer to FIG. 14B). And then, main controller 20 inserts wafer carrierarm 118 that has been waiting at a waiting position in the vicinity ofthe wafer exchange position below wafer W held by Bernoulli chuck 108(refer to FIGS. 14B and 15B), and drives Bernoulli chuck 108 slightlyupward, after having released the suction of Bernoulli chuck 108. Thisallows wafer W to be held by wafer carrier arm 118 from below.

Then, main controller 20 carries wafer W to a wafer unload position (forexample, a delivery position (unloading side) of the wafer between acoater developer) which is away in the +X direction from the waferexchange position from below, via wafer carrier arm 118, and mountswafer W on the wafer unload position. FIG. 15C shows a state where wafercarrier arm 118 moves away from the wafer exchange position, and FIG.14C shows a state where wafer carrier arm 118 is distanced away from thewafer exchange position.

Then, loading of a new wafer W (which has not yet been exposed) ontofine movement stage WFS2 is performed by main controller 20 roughly in areversed procedure of the unloading described above. More specifically,main controller 20 controls wafer carrier arm 118, and carries wafer Wwhich is at the wafer loading position (for example, a delivery position(loading side) of the wafer between the coater developer) to the waferexchange position under chuck unit 102, using wafer carrier arm 118.

Then, main controller 20 drives Bernoulli chuck 108 slightly downward,and begins the suction of wafer W by Bernoulli chuck 108. And then, maincontroller 20 drives Bernoulli chuck 108 that has suctioned wafer Wslightly upward, and makes wafer carrier arm 118 withdraw to the waitingposition previously described.

Then, main controller 20 adjusts the position (including the θzrotation) in the XY plane of fine movement stage WFS2 via fine movementstage drive system 52B (and coarse movement stage drive system 51B),while monitoring the measurement values of relative position measuringinstrument 22B and wafer stage position measurement system 16B, so thatpositional shift and rotational error of wafer W are corrected, based oninformation on positional shift in the X-axis direction and the Y-axisdirection and rotational error of wafer W which is sent from signalprocessing system 116 previously described.

Then, main controller 20 drives Bernoulli chuck 108 downward to aposition until the back surface of wafer W comes in contact with thewafer holder of fine movement stage WFS2, and drives Bernoulli chuck 108upward by a predetermined amount, after having released the suction ofBernoulli chuck 108. This allows a new wafer W to be loaded on finemovement stage WFS2. Then, alignment is performed with respect to thenew wafer W.

On wafer alignment, first of all, main controller 20 drives finemovement stage WFS2 so as to position measurement plate 86 on finemovement stage WFS2 right under primary alignment system AL1, anddetects the second fiducial mark using primary alignment system AL1.Then, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Patent Application PublicationNo. 2008/0088843 and the like, for example, main controller 20 can movewafer stage WST2 in the −Y direction and position wafer stage WST at aplurality of points on the movement path, and each time the position isset, detects positional information of the alignment marks in thealignment shot area (sample shot area), using at least one of alignmentsystems AL1, and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄. For example, in the case of consideringa case where positioning is performed four times, main controller 20,for example, uses primary alignment system AL1 and secondary alignmentsystems AL2 ₂ and AL2 ₃ at the time of the first positioning to detectalignment marks (hereinafter also referred to as sample marks) in threesample shot areas, uses alignment systems AL1, and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄ at thetime of the second positioning to detect five sample marks on wafer W,uses alignment systems AL1, and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄ at the time of the thirdpositioning to detect five sample marks, and uses primary alignmentsystem AL1, and secondary alignment systems AL2 ₂ and AL2 ₃ at the timeof the fourth positioning to detect three sample marks, respectively.Accordingly, positional information of alignment marks in a total of 16alignment shot areas can be obtained in a remarkably shorter period oftime, compared with the case where the 16 alignment marks aresequentially detected with a single alignment system. In this case, eachof alignment systems AL1, AL2 ₂ and AL2 ₃ detects a plurality ofalignment marks (sample marks) arrayed along the Y-axis direction thatare sequentially placed within the detection area (e.g. corresponding tothe irradiation area of the detection light), corresponding with themovement operation of wafer stage WST2 described above. Therefore, onthe measurement of the alignment marks described above, it is notnecessary to move wafer stage WST2 in the X-axis direction.

In the embodiment, main controller 20 performs position measurementincluding the detection of the second fiducial marks, and in the case ofthe wafer alignment, performs position measurement of fine movementstage WFS2 in the XY plane supported by coarse movement stage WCS2 atthe time of the wafer alignment, using fine movement stage positionmeasurement system 70B including measurement arm 71B. However, besidesthis, wafer alignment can be performed while measuring the position ofwafer W via wafer stage position measurement system 16B previouslydescribed, in the case of performing the movement of fine movement stageWFS2 at the time of wafer alignment integrally with coarse movementstage WCS2. Further, because measurement station 300 and exposurestation 200 are arranged apart, the position of fine movement stage WFS2is controlled on different coordinate systems at the time of waferalignment and at the time of exposure. Therefore, main controller 20converts array coordinates of each shot area on wafer W acquired fromthe wafer alignment into array coordinates which are based on the secondfiducial marks.

While wafer alignment to wafer W held by fine movement stage WFS2 iscompleted in the manner described above, exposure of wafer W which isheld by fine movement stage WFS1 in exposure station 200 is still beingcontinued. FIG. 16A shows a positional relation of coarse movementstages WCS1, WCS2 and relay stage DRST at the stage when wafer alignmentto wafer W has been completed.

Main controller 20 drives wafer stage WST2 by a predetermined distancein the −Y direction via coarse movement stage drive system 51B, as shownin an outlined arrow in FIG. 16B, and makes wafer stage WST2 be incontact or be in proximity by around 500 μm to relay stage DRST which isstanding still at a predetermined waiting position (substantiallycoincides with a center position between an optical axis AX ofprojection optical system PL and a detection center of primary alignmentsystem AL1).

Next, main controller 20 controls the current flowing in YZ coils offine movement stage drive systems 52B and 52C so as to drive finemovement stage WFS2 in the −Y direction by an electromagnetic force (aLorentz force), as is shown by the black arrow in FIG. 16C, and movesfine movement stage WFS2 from coarse movement stage WCS2 onto relaystage DRST. FIG. 16D shows a state where fine movement stage WFS2 hasbeen moved and mounted on relay stage DRST.

Main controller 20 waits for the exposure to wafer W on fine movementstage WFS1 to be completed, in a state where relay stage DRST and coarsemovement stage WCS2 are waiting at a position shown in FIG. 16D.

FIG. 18 shows a state of wafer stage WST1 immediately after completingthe exposure.

Prior to the completion of exposure, main controller 20 drives movableblade BL downward by a predetermined amount from a state shown in FIG. 5via blade drive system 58 as is shown by an outlined arrow in FIG. 17.By this drive, the upper surface of movable blade BL is positioned to beflush with the upper surface of fine movement stage WFS1 (and wafer W)located below projection optical system PL, as shown in FIG. 17. Then,main controller 20 waits for the exposure to be completed in this state.

Then, when exposure has been completed, main controller 20 drivesmovable blade BL in the +Y direction by a predetermined amount (refer tothe outlined arrow in FIG. 18) via blade drive system 58, so as to makemovable blade BL be in contact or in proximity by a clearance of around300 μm to fine movement stage WFS1. More specifically, main controller20 sets movable blade SL and fine movement stage WFS1 to a scrum state.

Next, as shown in FIG. 19, main controller 20 drives movable blade BL inthe +Y direction (refer to the outlined arrow in FIG. 19) integrallywith wafer stage WST1, while maintaining a scrum state between movableblade BL and fine movement stage WFS1. By this operation, the liquidimmersion space area (liquid Lq), which is formed by liquid Lq heldbetween tip lens 191 and fine movement stage WFS1, is passed from finemovement stage WFS1 to movable blade BL. FIG. 19 shows a state justbefore the liquid immersion space area formed by liquid Lq is passedfrom fine movement stage WFS1 to movable blade BL. In the state shown inFIG. 19, liquid Lq is held between tip lens 191, and fine movement stageWFS1 and movable blade BL. Incidentally, in the case of driving movableblade BL and fine movement stage WFS1 in proximity, it is desirable toset a gap (clearance) between movable blade BL and fine movement stageWFS1 so as to prevent or to suppress leakage of liquid Lq.

Then, when the liquid immersion space area has been passed from finemovement stage WFS1 to movable blade BL, as shown in FIG. 20, coarsemovement stage WCS1 holding fine movement stage WFS1 comes into contactor in proximity by a clearance of around 300 μm to relay stage DRSTwaiting in a proximity state with coarse movement stage WCS2, holdingfine movement stage WFS2 at the waiting position previously described.During the stage where coarse movement stage WCS1 holding fine movementstage WFS1 moves in the +Y direction, main controller 20 inserts carriermember 48 of carrier apparatus 46 into the space of coarse movementstage WCS1, via carrier member drive system 54.

And, at the point when coarse movement stage WCS1 holding fine movementstage WFS1 comes into contact or in proximity to relay stage DRST, maincontroller 20 drives carrier member 48 upward so that fine movementstage WFS1 is supported from below.

And, in this state, main controller 20 releases the lock mechanism (notshown) and separates coarse movement stage WCS1 into the first sectionWCS1 a and the second section WCS1 b. By this operation, fine movementstage WFS1 is detachable from coarse movement stage WCS1. Then, maincontroller 20 drives carrier member 48 supporting fine movement stageWFS1 downward, as is shown by the outlined arrow in FIG. 21A.

And then, main controller 20 locks the lock mechanism (not shown) afterthe first section WCS1 a and the second section WCS1 b are joinedtogether. Next, main controller 20 moves carrier member 48 whichsupports fine movement stage WFS1 from below to the inside of stage mainsection 44 of relay stage DRST. FIG. 21B shows the state where carriermember 48 is being moved. Further, concurrently with the movement ofcarrier member 48, main controller 20 controls the current flowing in Ydrive coils of fine movement stage drive systems 52C and 52A, and drivesfine movement stage WFS2 in the −Y direction as is shown by the blackarrow in FIG. 21B by an electromagnetic force (a Lorentz force), andmoves (a slide movement) fine movement stage WFS2 from relay stage DRSTonto coarse movement stage WCS1.

Further, after housing the carrier member main section of carrier member48 into the space of relay stage DRST so that fine movement stage WFS1is completely housed in the space of relay stage DRST, main controller20 moves the movable member holding fine movement stage WFS1 in the +Ydirection on the carrier member main section (refer to the outlinedarrow in FIG. 21C).

Next, main controller 20 moves coarse movement stage WCS1 which holdsfine movement stage WFS2 in the −Y direction, and delivers the liquidimmersion space area held with tip lens 191 from movable blade BL tofine movement stage WFS2. The delivery of this liquid immersion spacearea (liquid Lq) is performed by reversing the procedure of the deliveryof the liquid immersion space area from fine movement stage WFS1 tomovable blade BL previously described.

Then, prior to the beginning of exposure, main controller 20 performsreticle alignment in a procedure (a procedure disclosed in, for example,U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,413 and the like) similar to a normal scanningstepper, using the pair of reticle alignment systems RA₁ and RA₂previously described, and the pair of first fiducial marks onmeasurement plate 86 of fine movement stage WFS2 and the like. FIG. 21Dshows fine movement stage WFS2 during reticle alignment, along withcoarse movement stage WCS1 holding the fine movement stage. Then, maincontroller 20 performs exposure operation by the step-and-scan method,based on results of the reticle alignment and the results of the waferalignment (array coordinates which uses the second fiducial marks ofeach of the shot areas on wafer W) and transfers the pattern of reticleR on each of the plurality of shot areas on wafer W. As is obvious fromFIGS. 21E and 21F, in this exposure, fine movement stage WFS2 isreturned to the −X side after reticle alignment, and then exposure isperformed in the order from shot areas on the +Y side on wafer W to theshot areas on the −Y side.

Concurrently with the delivery of the liquid immersion space area,reticle alignment, and exposure described above, the followingoperations are performed.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 21D, main controller 20 movescarrier member 48 holding fine movement stage WFS1 into the space ofcoarse movement stage WCS2. At this point, with the movement of carriermember 48, main controller 20 moves the movable member holding finemovement stage WFS1 on the carrier member main section in the +Ydirection.

Next, main controller 20 releases the lock mechanism (not shown), andseparates coarse movement stage WCS2 into the first section WCS2 a andthe second section WCS2 b, and also drives carrier member 48 holdingfine movement stage WFS1 upward as is shown by the outlined arrow inFIG. 21E so that each of the pair of mover sections equipped in finemovement stage WFS1 are positioned at a height where the pair of moversections are engageable with the pair of stator sections of coarsemovement stage WCS2.

And then, main controller 20 brings together the first section WCS2 aand the second section WCS2 b of coarse movement stage WCS2. By this,fine movement stage WFS1 holding wafer W which has been exposed issupported by coarse movement stage WCS2. Therefore, main controller 20locks the lock mechanism (not shown).

Next, main controller 20 drives coarse movement stage WCS2 supportingfine movement stage WFS1 in the +Y direction as shown by the outlinedarrow in FIG. 21F, and moves coarse movement stage WCS2 to measurementstation 300.

Then, by main controller 20, on fine movement stage WFS1, waferexchange, detection of the second fiducial marks, wafer alignment andthe like are performed, in procedures similar to the ones previouslydescribed.

Then, main controller 20 converts array coordinates of each shot area onwafer W acquired from the wafer alignment into array coordinates whichare based on the second fiducial marks. In this case as well, positionmeasurement of fine movement stage WFS1 on alignment is performed, usingfine movement stage position measurement system 70B.

While wafer alignment to wafer W held by fine movement stage WFS1 iscompleted in the manner described above, exposure of wafer W which isheld by fine movement stage WFS2 in exposure station 200 is still beingcontinued.

Then, in a manner similar to the previous description, main controller20 moves fine movement stage WFS1 to relay stage DRST. Main controller20 waits for the exposure to wafer W on fine movement stage WFS2 to becompleted, in a state where relay stage DRST and coarse movement stageWCS2 are waiting at the waiting position previously described.

Hereinafter, a similar processing is repeatedly performed, alternatelyusing fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2, and an exposure processing toa plurality of wafer Ws is continuously performed.

Next, suction of wafer W by the wafer holder and release of the suctionwill be described. FIG. 22A schematically shows a configuration of finemovement stage WFS1. Incidentally, although FIGS. 22A to 22C show finemovement stage WFS1, fine movement stage WFS2 is also configured in asimilar manner.

As shown in FIG. 22A, a suction opening section 81 a is formed in mainbody section 81 of fine movement stage WFS. The position of suctionopening section 81 a is not restricted in particular, and can be formed,for example, on the side surface, the lower surface and the like of mainbody section 81. Further, inside main body section 81, an opening formedat the bottom section of wafer holder WH, and a piping member 87 a,which makes an outer space communicate with a decompression chamber 88formed in between wafer holder WH and the back surface of wafer W viasuction opening section 81 a, are provided. Along the pipe line ofpiping member 87 a, a check valve CVa is placed. Check valve CVamaintains a decompressed state of decompression chamber 88, byrestricting a direction in which the gas flows within piping member 87to one direction (refer to the black arrows in FIG. 22A), fromdecompression chamber 88 to the outer space, or more specifically, bykeeping gas with higher pressure than the gas within decompressionchamber 88 from flowing inside decompression chamber 88 from the outerspace.

Further, exposure apparatus 100 has a suction piping 80 a, which ispositioned so that when wafer stage WST1 (or WST2) is positioned at thewafer exchange position shown in FIG. 3 to exchange wafer W using chuckunit 102, one end of suction piping 80 a would be inserted into pipingmember 87 a via suction opening section 81 a, as shown in FIGS. 22B and22C. The other end of suction piping 80 a is connected to a vacuum pump(not shown). When wafer W is mounted on wafer holder WH, main controller20 (refer to FIG. 13) controls the vacuum pump and absorbs the gaswithin decompression chamber 88. Suction piping 80 a and piping member87 a are tightly sealed together by an O-ring (not shown) and the like.This makes the pressure in decompression chamber 88 lower than thepressure of the outer space, and wafer W is held by suction by waferholder WH. Further, when the pressure inside decompression chamber 88reaches a predetermined pressure, main controller 20 stops the suctionof gas of decompression chamber 88 by the vacuum pump. After this, evenif wafer stage WST1 (or WST2) moves from the wafer exchange position andsuction piping 80 a is pulled out from piping member 87 a, because thepipe line of piping member 87 a is blocked along the line by check valveCVa, the decompressed state of decompression chamber 88 is maintained,and the state where wafer W is held by suction by wafer holder WH ismaintained.

Further, because the decompressed state of decompression chamber 88 ismaintained by check valve CVa, it is not necessary, for example, toconnect a piping neither (e.g., a tube) to fine movement stages WFS1 andWFS2 in order to suction the gas within decompression chamber 88.Accordingly, fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 become detachable fromcoarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2, and delivery and the like of finemovement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) between the two coarse movement stagesWCS1 and WCS2 and relay stage DRST can be performed without any trouble.

Further, because holding wafer W using Bernoulli chuck 108 (refer toFIG. 3) becomes difficult at the time of unloading wafer W when thedecompressed state of decompression chamber 88 is constantly maintained,a piping member 87 b is provided in main body section 81 as shown inFIG. 22A so that the decompressed state of decompression chamber 88 canbe released. Piping member 87 b, similar to piping member 87 a, hasdecompression chamber 88 communicate with the outer space, via theopening formed at the bottom section of wafer holder WH and a releaseopening section 81 b formed in main body section 81. The position ofrelease opening section 81 b is not restricted in particular, and can beformed, for example, on the side surface, the lower surface and the likeof main body section 81. Along the pipe line of piping member 87 b, acheck valve CVb is placed. Check valve CVb restricts a direction inwhich the gas flows within piping member 87 b to one direction (refer tothe black arrow in FIG. 22A), from the outer space to decompressionchamber 88. Incidentally, in a spring which energizes a valve member (inFIGS. 22A to 22C, e.g., a ball) of check valve CVb to a closed position,a spring constant is set so that the valve member does not move (so thatthe check valve is not opened in a state shown in FIG. 22B) to an openposition in a state (a state shown in FIG. 22A) where decompressionchamber 88 is a decompressed space.

Further, exposure apparatus 100 has a gas supply piping 80 b, which ispositioned so that when wafer stage WST1 (or WST2) is positioned at thewafer exchange position shown in FIG. 3, one end of gas supply piping 80b would be inserted into piping member 87 b from release opening section81 b, as shown in FIGS. 223 and 22C. The other end of gas supply piping80 b is connected to a gas supply device (not shown). On unloading waferW, main controller 20 controls the gas supply device so that a highpressure gas is blown into piping member 87 b. This turns check valveCVb into an open state, which introduces the high pressure gas intodecompression chamber 88, which in turn releases the suction of wafer Wby wafer holder WH. Further, because the gas introduced intodecompression chamber 88 from the gas supply device blows out from belowwafer W toward the rear surface of wafer W, the weight of wafer W itselfis canceled out. In other words, the gas supply device assists Bernoullichuck 108 in the holding (lifting) operation of wafer W. Accordingly,the suction holding force of the wafer by the Bernoulli chuck can besmall, which allows the size of chuck unit 102 to be reduced.Incidentally, in the case of using a wafer holder that holds the waferby electrostatic chucking as the wafer holder, a rechargeable batterycan be installed in the fine movement stage, and the battery can berecharged along with the wafer exchange at the wafer exchange positionshown in FIG. 3. In this case, a receiving terminal can be provided inthe fine movement stage, and in the vicinity of the wafer exchangeposition, a feeding terminal can be placed, which is positioned so thatthe terminal electrically connects to the receiving terminal describedabove when the wafer stage is positioned at the wafer exchange position.

As is described in detail above, according to exposure apparatus 100 ofthe embodiment, when fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1) which holdswafer W is located at the wafer exchange position below chuck unit 102,wafer W can be held in a non-contact manner from above by Bernoullichuck 108 of chuck unit 102, and can be carried from fine movement stageWFS2 (or WFS1). Therefore, a notch to house an arm and the like usedwhen unloading wafer W from fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1) does nothave to be formed in the wafer holder on fine movement stage WFS2 (orWFS1). Further, wafer W can be held in a non-contact manner from aboveby Bernoulli chuck 108, and can be loaded onto fine movement stage WFS2(or WFS1). Therefore, a notch to house an arm and the like used whenloading wafer W onto fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1) does not have tobe formed in the wafer holder on fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1).Further, according to exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, avertical movement member (also called a center-up or a center table) fordelivering the wafer does not have to be arranged in fine movement stageWFS2 (or WFS1). Accordingly, it becomes possible for the wafer holder onfine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) to hold wafer W by suction in auniform manner across the entire surface including the shot areas in theperiphery, which makes it possible to favorably maintain the degree offlatness of wafer W across the entire surface.

Further, according to exposure apparatus 100 of the present embodiment,on a plane substantially parallel to the XY plane of fine movementstages WFS1 and WFS2, a measurement plane on which grating RG is formedis arranged, respectively. Fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) is heldrelatively movable along the XY plane by coarse movement stage WCS1 (orWCS2). And, fine movement stage position measurement system 70A (or 70B)has X head 77 x, and Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb that are placed inside thespace of coarse movement stage WCS1 facing the measurement plane onwhich grating RG is formed and irradiate a pair of measurement beamsLBx₁ and LBx₂, LBya₁ and LBya₂, and LByb₁ and LByb₂, respectively, onthe measurement plane, and receive lights from the measurement plane ofthe measurement beams (e.g., synthetic beams LBx₁₂, LBya₁₂, LByb₁₂ ofthe first-order diffraction beams made by grating RG of each of themeasurement beams). Then, by fine movement stage position measurementsystem 70A (or 70B), positional information (including rotationinformation in the θz direction) at least within an XY plane of finemovement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) is measured, based on an output of theheads, X head 77 x, Y heads 77 y 1, and 77 y 2. This allows thepositional information in the XY plane of fine movement stage WFS1 (orWFS2) to be measured with good precision by the so-called back surfacemeasurement by irradiating the pair of measurement beams LBx₁ and LBx₂,LBya₁ and LBya₂, and LByb₁ and LByb₂, from X head 77 x, Y heads 77 y 1and 77 y 2, respectively, on the measurement plane of fine movementstage WFS1 (or WFS2) on which grating RG is formed. Then, maincontroller 20 drives fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) alone, orintegrally with WCS1 (or WCS2), based on the positional informationmeasured by fine movement stage position measurement system 70A (or 70B)via fine movement stage drive system 52A (or fine movement stage drivesystem 52A and coarse movement stage drive system 51A), (or via finemovement stage drive system 52B (or fine movement stage drive system 52Band coarse movement stage drive system 51B). Further, because a verticalmovement member does not have to be provided on fine movement stage asis described above, no problems occur in particular even when the backsurface measurement described above is employed.

Further, in exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, in exposurestation 200, wafer W mounted on fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) heldrelatively movable by coarse movement stage WCS1 is exposed withexposure light IL, via reticle R and projection optical system PL. Indoing so, positional information in the XY plane of fine movement stageWFS1 (or WFS2) held movable by coarse movement stage WCS1 is measured bymain controller 20, using encoder system 73 of fine movement stageposition measurement system 70A which has measurement arm 71A whichfaces grating RG placed at fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2). In thiscase, because space is formed inside coarse movement stage WCS1 and eachof the heads of fine movement stage position measurement system 70A areplaced in this space, there is only space between fine movement stageWFS1 and each of the heads of fine movement stage position measurementsystem 70A. Accordingly, each of the heads can be arranged in proximityto fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) (grating RG), which allows ahighly precise measurement of the positional information of finemovement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) by fine movement stage positionmeasurement system 70A. Further, as a consequence, a highly precisedrive of fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) via coarse movement stagedrive system 51A and/or fine movement stage drive system 52A by maincontroller 20 becomes possible.

Further, in this case, irradiation points of the measurement beams ofeach of the heads of encoder system 73 and laser interferometer system75 configuring fine movement stage position measurement system 70Aemitted from measurement arm 71A on grating RG coincide with the center(exposure position) of irradiation area (exposure area) IA of exposurelight IL irradiated on wafer W. While the irradiation point of all themeasurement beams does not always coincide with the exposure centerhere, the extent of the influence of the Abbe error is suppressible, ornegligible. Accordingly, main controller 20 can measure the positionalinformation of fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) with high accuracy,without being affected by so-called Abbe error. Further, because opticalpath lengths in the atmosphere of the measurement beams of each of theheads of encoder system 73 can be made extremely short by placingmeasurement arm 71A right under grating RG, the influence of airfluctuation is reduced, and also in this point, the positionalinformation of fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) can be measured withhigh accuracy.

Further, in the embodiment, fine movement stage position measurementsystem 70B configured symmetric to fine movement stage positionmeasurement system 70A is provided in measurement station 300. And inmeasurement station 300, when wafer alignment to wafer W on finemovement stage WFS2 (or WFS1) held by coarse movement stage WCS2 isperformed by alignment systems AL1, and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄ and the like,positional information in the XY plane of fine movement stage WFS2 (orWFS1) held movable on coarse movement stage WCS2 is measured by finemovement stage position measurement system 70B with high precision. As aconsequence, a highly precise drive of fine movement stage WFS2 (orWFS1) via coarse movement stage drive system 51B and/or fine movementstage drive system 52B by main controller 20 becomes possible.

Accordingly, it becomes possible to form a pattern with good accuracy onthe entire surface of wafer W, for example, by exposing such wafer Wusing illumination light IL.

Further, according to the embodiment, the delivery of fine movementstage WFS2 (or WFS1) holding the wafer which has not yet undergoneexposure from coarse movement stage WCS2 to relay stage DRST, and thedelivery from relay stage DRST to coarse movement stage WCS1 areperformed, by making fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1) perform a slidemovement along an upper surface (a surface (a first surface) parallel tothe XY plane including the pair of stator sections 93 a and 93 b) ofcoarse movement stage WCS2, relay stage DRST, and coarse movement stageWCS1. Further, the delivery of fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2)holding the wafer which has been exposed from coarse movement stage WCS1to relay stage DRST, and the delivery from relay stage DRST to coarsemovement stage WCS1 are performed, by making fine movement stage WFS1(or WFS2) move within the space inside coarse movement stage WCS1, relaystage DRST, and coarse movement stage WCS2, which are positioned on the−Z side of the first surface. Accordingly, the delivery of the waferbetween coarse movement stage WCS1 and relay stage DRST, and coarsemovement stage WCS2 and relay stage DRST can be realized by suppressingan increase in the footprint of the apparatus as much as possible.

Further, in the embodiment above, although relay stage DRST isconfigured movable within the XY plane, as is obvious from thedescription on the series of parallel processing operations previouslydescribed, in the actual sequence, relay stage DRST remains waiting atthe waiting position previously described. On this point as well, anincrease in the footprint of the apparatus is suppressed.

Further, according to exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, becausefine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) can be driven with good precision, itbecomes possible to drive wafer W mounted on this fine movement stageWFS1 (or WFS2) in synchronization with reticle stage RST (reticle R)with good precision, and to transfer a pattern of reticle R onto wafer Wby scanning exposure. Further, in exposure apparatus 100 of theembodiment, because wafer exchange, alignment measurement and the likeof wafer W on fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1) can be performed inmeasurement station 300, concurrently with the exposure operationperformed on wafer W mounted on fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) inexposure station 200, throughput can be improved when compared with thecase where each processing of wafer exchange, alignment measurement, andexposure is sequentially performed.

Incidentally, in the embodiment above, the case has been described wherewafer exchange on fine movement stage WFS1 or WFS2 is performed by chuckunit 102, which is equipped with Bernoulli chuck 108 driven verticallyby drive section 104, and wafer carrier arm 118, working together.However, as well as this, for example, the carrier apparatus can beconfigured by Bernoulli chuck 108 being fixed to the tip of an arm(hereinafter shortened to a robot arm) 120 of a horizontal multijointrobot that can move vertically as in the modified example shown in FIG.23A.

In the case of the carrier apparatus having the configuration shown inFIG. 23A, wafer exchange is performed in the following procedure.

As a premise of beginning the wafer exchange, fine movement stage WFS2holding wafer W which has been exposed is to be at the wafer exchangeposition under chuck unit 102, being supported by coarse movement stageWCS2 (refer to FIG. 23A). Further, Bernoulli chuck 108 is waiting at apredetermined waiting position (refer to FIG. 23A).

First of all, robot arm 120 is controlled by main controller 20, andBernoulli chuck 108 is driven downward. During this drive, in aprocedure similar to the one previously described, main controller 20controls robot arm 120 and Bernoulli chuck 108 according to measurementvalues of a gap sensor. This allows wafer W to be held by suction in anon-contact manner from above by Bernoulli chuck 108, via a clearance ofaround several μm (refer to FIG. 23B).

Then, robot arm 120 is controlled by main controller 20, and Bernoullichuck 108, which holds wafer W by suction in a non-contact manner isdriven within a horizontal plane, after being driven upward. This allowswafer W to be carried to a wafer unload position which is spaced apartin the +X direction from the wafer exchange position, and is mounted onthe wafer unload position. FIG. 23C shows a state where robot arm 120moves away from the wafer exchange position.

Then, loading of a new wafer W (which has not yet been exposed) ontofine movement stage WFS2 is performed (details omitted) by maincontroller 20 roughly in a reversed procedure of the unloading describedabove. In this case as well, adjustment of the position (including theθz rotation) in the XY plane of fine movement stage WFS2 via finemovement stage drive system 52B (and coarse movement stage drive system51B) is performed by main controller 20, based on the measurement valuesof relative position measuring instrument 22B and wafer stage positionmeasurement system 16B, so that positional shift and rotational error ofwafer W are corrected, based on information on positional shift in theX-axis direction and the Y-axis direction and rotational error of waferW which is sent from signal processing system 116 previously described.

Besides this, as is shown in FIG. 24A, a chuck unit 102′ (preferablylighter than chuck unit 102), which has a configuration similar to chuckunit 102, can be structured drivable along a guide 122. In the carrierapparatus related to a modified example in FIG. 24A, wafer W is held bysuction (refer to FIG. 24A) in a non-contact manner from above byBernoulli chuck 108 under the control of main controller 20, in aprocedure similar to the described in the embodiment above. Then, afterBernoulli chuck 108 which holds wafer W by suction in a non-contactmanner is driven upward by main controller 20, Bernoulli chuck 108 iscarried toward the wafer unload position along guide 122 (refer to FIG.24B).

Then, loading of a new wafer W (which has not yet been exposed) ontofine movement stage WFS2 is performed (details omitted) by maincontroller 20 roughly in a reversed procedure of the unloading describedabove. In this case as well, positional shift and rotational error ofwafer W are corrected, as is previously described.

Incidentally, in the embodiment above, while the case has been describedwhere three imaging devices 114 a to 114 c were provided to adjustpositional shift and rotational error at the time wafer loading, besidesthis, a detection system to detect mark (or a pattern) on the wafer,such as, for example, a plurality of microscopes equipped with a CCD andthe like, can be provided. In this case, the main controller can computethe positional shift and the rotational error of wafer W by detectingthe position of three or more marks using the plurality of microscopes,and performing a predetermined statistical computation using thedetection results.

Further, in the first embodiment above, while the case has beendescribed where the apparatus is equipped with relay stage DRST, inaddition to coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2, relay stage DRST doesnot necessarily have to be provided (for example, refer to a second andthird embodiment which will be described later on). In this case, forexample, the fine movement stage can be delivered between coarsemovement stage WCS2 and coarse movement stage WCS1 directly, or, forexample, the fine movement stage can be delivered to coarse movementstages WCS1 and WCS2, using a robot arm and the like. In the formercase, for example, a carrier mechanism, which delivers the fine movementstage to coarse movement stage WCS1 and then receives the fine movementstage and delivers the fine movement stage to an external carrier system(not shown) from coarse movement stage WCS1, can be provided in coarsemovement stage WCS2. In this case, the external carrier system canattach the fine movement stage holding the wafer to coarse movementstage WCS2. In the case the relay stage is not arranged, this allows thefootprint of the apparatus to be reduced.

In the first embodiment above, in the relay stage DRST and coarsemovement stage WCS1 (or WCS2) are made to be in proximity to replacefine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 between the two coarse movementstages WCS1 and WCS2, relay stage DRST and coarse movement stage WCS1(or WCS2) do not have to be extremely close. Relay stage DRST and coarsemovement stage WCS1 (or WCS2) can be distanced within a range where finemovement stage is not tilted greatly (that is, the stator and the moverof the linear motor do not come into contact) at the time of movement ofthe fine movement stage between relay stage DRST and coarse movementstage WCS1 (or WCS2).

A Second Embodiment

Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed, with reference to FIGS. 25 to 41C. Here, from a viewpoint ofavoiding repetition, the same or similar reference numerals will be usedfor the same or similar sections as in the first embodiment previouslydescribed, and a detailed description thereabout will be simplified oromitted.

FIG. 25 shows a schematic configuration of an exposure apparatus 1000 inthe second embodiment when viewed from the +X side, and FIG. 26 shows apartially omitted planar view of exposure apparatus 1000. Further, FIG.27 shows a center table and the vicinity of a chuck unit which will bedescribed later on. Further, FIG. 28A shows a side view of a wafer stagewhich exposure apparatus 1000 is equipped with when viewed from the −Ydirection, and FIG. 28B shows a planar view of the wafer stage,respectively. FIG. 29A is a planar view of a coarse movement stage, FIG.29B is a planar view showing a state where the coarse movement stage isseparated into two sections, and FIG. 30 shows a front view of the waferstage in a state where coarse movement stage is separated. Furthermore,FIG. 31 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of a control system inexposure apparatus 1000. The control system is mainly configured of maincontroller 20 that performs overall control of each section configuringexposure apparatus 1000, as is previously described.

Exposure apparatus 1000 is a projection exposure apparatus by thestep-and-scan method, or a so-called scanner. As shown in FIG. 25,exposure apparatus 1000 is equipped with an exposure station 200 placedclose to the end on the −Y side of a base board 12, a measurementstation 300 placed close to the end on the +Y side of base board 12, acenter table 130 and a chuck unit 102 placed in between measurementstation 300 and exposure station 200, two wafer stages WST1 and WST2,and a control system and the like for these parts.

As shown in FIG. 26, center table 130 is placed at a position betweenmeasurement station 300 and exposure station 200, with the center of thetable substantially coinciding on reference axis LV previouslydescribed. As shown in FIG. 27, center table 130 is equipped with adriver 132 placed inside of base board 12, a shaft 134 which isvertically driven by driver 132, and a table main body 136 which has aY-shape (refer to FIG. 26) in a planar view and is fixed to the upperend of shaft 134. Driver 132 of center table 130 is controlled by maincontroller 20 (refer to FIG. 31).

Chuck unit 102, as shown in FIG. 27, for example, is equipped with adrive section 104, a shaft 106, and a disc-shaped Bernoulli chuck 108similar to the first embodiment, however, unlike the first embodiment,chuck unit 102 is approximately placed just above center table 130 (aposition in between measurement station 300 and exposure station 200).To Bernoulli chuck 108, for example, a gap sensor 112 (not shown in FIG.27, refer to FIG. 31) consisting of a capacitive sensor is attached.

Furthermore, exposure apparatus 1000 is equipped with a wafer carrierarm 118 (refer to FIG. 26) which is movable within an area including aposition of chuck unit 102, and a wafer delivery position (e.g., a waferdelivery position (unloading side and loading side) of a wafer between acoater developer which is connected in-line to exposure apparatus 1000)away from the position of chuck unit 102, for example, in the +Xdirection.

Besides what is described above, center table 130 described above isprovided in exposure apparatus 1000 of the second embodiment, andbesides the configuration of the stage system and the control algorithmof main controller 20 being partly different from exposure apparatus ofthe first embodiment previously described corresponding to the chuckunit placed directly above center table 130, the configuration and thelike of other sections is the same as exposure apparatus 100.

In other words, as it can be seen when comparing FIGS. 28A, 28B, 29A,29B, 30, and 31, and FIGS. 4A, 4B, 6 and 13 previously described, whilein the stage system of the second embodiment, a U-shaped notch 95 whosewidth is larger than the diameter of drive shaft 134 of center table 130previously described is formed on an edge on one side (the +Y side) inthe Y-axis direction in the center in the longitudinal direction (X-axisdirection) of coarse movement slider section 91 of coarse movement stageWCS1, as is shown in FIGS. 28B and 29A, other parts are the same as thestage system in the first embodiment previously described. Since notch95 is formed in coarse movement slider section 91, drive shaft 134 doesnot interfere with the movement of coarse movement stage WCS1 when thefine movement stage is carried to the area right above center table 130by coarse movement stage WCS1 as it will be described later on.

In exposure apparatus 1000, as is shown in FIG. 26, for example, coarsemovement stage WCS2 is placed on base board 12 in a direction oppositeto coarse movement stage WCS1, or more specifically, in a directionwhere an opening of notch 95 of coarse movement slider section 91 facesthe other side (the −Y side) of the Y-axis direction (refer to). Thisallows drive shaft 134 to keep from interfering with the movement ofcoarse movement stage WCS2 when the fine movement stage is carried tothe area right above center table 130 by coarse movement stage WCS2.

However, in order to directly deliver the fine movement stage betweencoarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2 reciprocally, coarse movementstages WCS1 and WCS2 only have to be approachable to each other withoutbeing disturbed by drive shaft 134; therefore, a notch or an openingonly has to be formed in one of the coarse movement slider sections ofcoarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2.

In exposure apparatus 1000 of the embodiment, when manufacturing adevice, exposure by the step-and-scan method is performed on wafer Wheld by one of the fine movement, stages (in this case, WFS1, as anexample) held by coarse movement stage WCS1 located in exposure station200, and a pattern of reticle R is transferred on each of a plurality ofshot areas on wafer W. The exposure operation by this step-and scanmethod is performed by main controller 20, by repeating a movementoperation between shots in which wafer stage WST1 is moved to a scanningstarting position (an acceleration starting position) for exposure ofeach shot area on wafer W, and a scanning exposure operation in which apattern formed on reticle R is transferred onto each of the shot areasby the scanning exposure method, based on results of wafer alignment(for example, information on array coordinates of each shot area onwafer W obtained by enhanced global alignment (EGA) that has beenconverted into a coordinate which uses the second fiducial marks onmeasurement plate 86 as a reference) that has been performed beforehand,and results of reticle alignment and the like. Incidentally, theexposure operation described above is performed by liquid immersionexposure. Further, exposure is performed in the following order, fromthe shot area located on the +Y side on wafer W to the shot area locatedon the −Y side.

In exposure apparatus 1000 of the second embodiment, during the seriesof exposure operations described above, main controller 20 measures theposition of fine movement stage WFS1 (wafer W) using fine movement stageposition measurement system 70A, and the position of wafer W iscontrolled based on the measurement results.

In parallel with exposure to wafer W on fine movement stage WFS1described above, wafer exchange, wafer alignment, and the like areperformed on the other fine movement stage WFS2. Wafer exchange isperformed, by unloading wafer W which has been exposed from above finemovement stage WFS2 by chuck unit 102 and wafer carrier arm 118, as wellas loading a new wafer W on fine movement stage WFS2 when fine movementstage WFS2 holding wafer W which has been exposed is at a predeterminedwafer exchange position, or more specifically, on center table 130(table main body 136) under chuck unit 102 previously described.

As a premise of beginning the wafer exchange, fine movement stage WFS2holding wafer W which has been exposed is to be at the wafer exchangeposition under chuck unit 102, and mounted on table main body 136 ofcenter table 130 (being supported by table main body 136) (refer to FIG.27).

First of all, drive section 104 of chuck unit 102 is controlled by maincontroller 20, and Bernoulli chuck 108 is driven downward (refer to FIG.32A). During this drive, main controller 20 monitors the measurementvalues of gap sensor 112, and when the measurement value of gap sensor112 reaches a predetermined value, such as, for example, around severalμm, main controller 20 stops driving Bernoulli chuck 108 downward, andadjusts the flow rate of the air the blowing out from Bernoulli chuck108 so as to maintain the several μm gap. This allows wafer W to be heldby suction in a non-contact manner from above by Bernoulli chuck 108,via a clearance of around several μm (refer to FIG. 33A). Now, at thewafer exchange position, fine movement stage WFS1 is connected to apump, which is connected to a supply source of a pressurized gas, as inthe first embodiment previously described, and in a similar manner,assistance is performed, with respect to a suction holding operation ofwafer W using the Bernoulli chuck by releasing the suction of wafer W bythe wafer holder and blowing out pressurized gas from below.Incidentally, in a state where the pump is in an idle state(non-operating state) including the case where a wafer is suctioned, thegas supply line is closed by an action of a check valve (not shown).

Then, main controller 20 controls drive section 104 and drives Bernoullichuck 108 upward which holds wafer W by suction in a non-contact manner(refer to FIG. 32B).

And then, main controller 20 inserts wafer carrier arm 118 that has beenwaiting at a waiting position in the vicinity of the wafer exchangeposition below wafer W held by Bernoulli chuck 108 (refer to FIGS. 32Band 33B), and drives Bernoulli chuck 108 slightly upward, after havingreleased the suction of Bernoulli chuck 108. This allows wafer W to beheld by wafer carrier arm 118 from below.

Then, main controller 20 controls wafer carrier arm 118 and carrieswafer W to a wafer unload position (for example, a delivery position(unloading side) of the wafer between a coater developer) which is awayin the −X direction from the wafer exchange position from below, andmounts wafer W on the wafer unload position. FIG. 33C shows a statewhere wafer carrier arm 118 moves away from the wafer exchange position,and FIG. 32C shows a state where wafer carrier arm 118 is distanced awayfrom the wafer exchange position.

Then, loading of a new wafer W (which has not yet been exposed) ontofine movement stage WFS2 is performed by main controller 20 roughly in areversed procedure of the unloading described above.

More specifically, main controller 20 controls wafer carrier arm 118,and makes wafer carrier arm 118 receive wafer W which is at the waferloading position (for example, a delivery position (unloading side) ofthe wafer between the coater developer) and carry the wafer to the waferexchange position under chuck unit 102.

Then, main controller 20 drives Bernoulli chuck 108 slightly downward,and begins the suction of wafer W by Bernoulli chuck 108. And then, maincontroller 20 drives Bernoulli chuck 108 that has suctioned wafer Wslightly upward, and makes wafer carrier arm 118 withdraw to the waitingposition previously described.

Then, main controller 20 drives Bernoulli chuck 108 downward to aposition until the back surface of wafer W comes in contact with thewafer holder of fine movement stage WFS2. Then, main controller 20drives Bernoulli chuck 108 upward by a predetermined amount, afterhaving released the suction of wafer W by Bernoulli chuck 108. Thisallows a new wafer W to be loaded on fine movement stage WFS2 mounted ontable main body 136. In this case, at the wafer exchange position, finemovement stage WFS1 is connected to a vacuum pump via an exhaust pipeline and piping (not shown), and by the operation of this vacuum pump,the pressure inside of a decompression chamber formed between the waferholder and the wafer becomes negative, which starts the suction of waferW by the wafer holder. And, when the vacuum pump is suspended, theexhaust pipe line is closed by an action of a check valve (not shown),and the negative pressure state of the decompression chamber ismaintained. This allows fine movement stage WFS2 to be separated fromthe coarse movement stage and to be carried without any problems.

And then, after fine movement stage WFS2 is delivered to coarse movementstage WCS2 by main controller 20 in a manner similar to the case of finemovement stage WFS1 which will be described later on, an alignment to anew wafer W is performed by main controller 20 in a procedure similar tothe one previously described. As a result of this wafer alignment,information on array coordinates of each shot area on wafer W acquiredfrom the wafer alignment, such as for example, EGA, which is convertedinto array coordinates which are based on the second fiducial marks canbe obtained.

While wafer alignment to wafer W held by fine movement stage WFS2 iscompleted in the manner described above, exposure of wafer W which isheld by fine movement stage WFS1 in exposure station 200 is still beingcontinued. FIG. 38A shows a positional relation of coarse movementstages WCS1 and WCS2 at the stage when wafer alignment to wafer W hasbeen completed.

Main controller 20 waits for the exposure to wafer W on fine movementstage WFS1 to be completed, in a state where wafer stage WST2 is waitingat a position shown in FIG. 38A.

FIG. 35 shows a state of wafer stage WST1 immediately after the exposureis completed.

Prior to the completion of exposure, main controller 20 drives movableblade BL which has been waiting on the −Y side of projection unit PUdownward by a predetermined amount via blade drive system 58, as isshown by an outlined arrow in FIG. 34. By this drive, the upper surfaceof movable blade BL is positioned to be flush with the upper surface offine movement stage WFS1 (and wafer W) located below projection opticalsystem PL, as shown in FIG. 34. Then, main controller 20 waits for theexposure to be completed in this state.

Then, when exposure has been completed, main controller 20 drivesmovable blade BL in the +Y direction by a predetermined amount (refer tothe outlined arrow in FIG. 35) via blade drive system 58, so as to makemovable blade BL in contact or in proximity by a clearance of around 300μm to fine movement stage WFS1. More specifically, main controller 20sets movable blade BL and fine movement stage WFS1 to a scrum state.

Next, as shown in FIG. 36, main controller 20 drives movable blade BL inthe +Y direction (refer to the outlined arrow in FIG. 36) integrallywith wafer stage WST1, while maintaining a scrum state between movableblade BL and fine movement stage WFS1. By this operation, the liquidimmersion space area formed by liquid Lq held between tip lens 191 andfine movement stage WFS1 is passed from fine movement stage WFS1 tomovable blade BL. FIG. 36 shows a state just before the liquid immersionspace area formed by liquid Lq is passed from fine movement stage WFS1to movable blade BL. In the state of this FIG. 36, liquid Lq is heldbetween frontal lens 191 and fine movement stage WFS1 and movable bladeBL.

Then, when the delivery of the liquid immersion space from fine movementstage WFS1 to movable blade BL is completed as shown in FIG. 37, maincontroller 20 drives coarse movement stage WCS1 holding fine movementstage WFS1 further in the +Y direction, and moves coarse movement stageWCS1 near coarse movement stage WCS2, which is waiting at a waitingposition while holding fine movement stage WFS2. By this movement, astate occurs where coarse movement stage WCS1 houses center table 130 inits internal space, and also supports fine movement stage WFS1 rightabove center table 130, as shown in FIG. 38B. More specifically, finemovement stage WFS1 is carried right above center table 130 by coarsemovement stage WCS1. FIG. 39 shows a state of both stages at this pointof time in a planar view.

Then, main controller 20 drives table main body 136 upward via driver132 of center table 130, and supports fine movement stage WFS1 frombelow.

And, in this state, main controller 20 releases the look mechanism (notshown), and separates coarse movement stage WCS1 into the first sectionWCS1 a and the second section WCS1 b. By this operation, fine movementstage WFS1 is detachable from coarse movement stage WCS1. Therefore,main controller 20 drives table main body 136 supporting fine movementstage WFS1 downward, as is shown by the outlined arrow in FIG. 38C.

And then, main controller 20 locks the lock mechanism (not shown) afterthe first section WCS1 a and the second section WCS1 b are joinedtogether.

Next, main controller 20 makes wafer stage WST2 almost come into contactwith wafer stage WST1, and also drives fine movement stage WFS2 in the−Y direction as is shown by the outlined arrow in FIG. 38D, and movesand mounts (a slide movement) fine movement stage WFS2 from coarsemovement stage WCS2 onto coarse movement stage WCS1.

Next, main controller 20 makes coarse movement stage WCS1 which supportsfine movement stage WFS2 move in the −Y direction as is shown by theoutlined arrow in FIG. 40A, and delivers the liquid immersion space areaheld with tip lens 191 from movable blade BL to fine movement stageWFS2. The delivery of this liquid immersion space area (liquid Lq) isperformed by reversing the procedure of the delivery of the liquidimmersion space area from fine movement stage WFS1 to movable blade BLpreviously described.

Then, prior to the beginning of exposure, main controller 20 performsreticle alignment in a procedure similar to the one previouslydescribed. FIG. 40B shows fine movement stage WFS2 during reticlealignment, along with coarse movement stage WCS1 holding the finemovement stage. Then, main controller 20 performs exposure operation bythe step-and-scan method, based on results of the reticle alignment andthe results of the wafer alignment (array coordinates which uses thesecond fiducial marks of each of the shot areas on wafer W), andtransfers the pattern of reticle R on each of the plurality of shotareas on wafer W. In this exposure, fine movement stage WFS2 is returnedto the −Y side once after the reticle alignment, and then exposure isperformed in the order from shot areas on the +Y side on wafer W to theshot areas on the −Y side.

Concurrently with the delivery of the liquid immersion space area,reticle alignment, and exposure described above, the followingoperations are performed.

More specifically, exchange of a wafer on fine movement stage WFS1mounted on table main body 136 of center table 130 is performed by maincontroller 20, using chuck unit 102, wafer carrier arm 118, center table130 and the like in a similar procedure as before.

Then, table main body 136 supporting fine movement stage WFS1 on which anew wafer W is loaded, is driven upward by a predetermined amount (referto the outlined arrow in FIG. 41A) by main controller 20, until tablemain body 136 comes to a position where fine movement stage WFS1 can befitted to coarse movement stage WCS2.

And then, coarse movement stage WCS2 is driven in the −Y direction bymain controller 20 as is shown by the outlined arrow in FIG. 41B, sothat fine movement stage WFS1 is attached to coarse movement stage WCS2.After this, main controller 20 drives table main body 136 downward. Thisallows fine movement stage WFS1 holding the new wafer W to be deliveredfrom main table body 136 to coarse movement stage WCS2, and to bemovably supported by coarse movement stage WCS2.

After that, coarse movement stage WCS2 is driven in the +Y direction bymain controller 20, and is moved to measurement station 300, as is shownby the outlined arrow in FIG. 41C.

Thereafter, detection of the second fiducial marks on fine movementstage WFS1 supported by coarse movement stage WCS2, alignment of wafer Won fine movement stage WFS1 and the like are performed in proceduressimilar to the ones previously described. In this case as well, positionmeasurement of fine movement stage WFS1 on alignment is performed, usingfine movement stage position measurement system 70B.

While wafer alignment to wafer W held by fine movement stage WFS1 iscompleted in the manner described above, exposure of wafer W which isheld by fine movement stage WFS2 in exposure station 200 is still beingcontinued.

Then, in a manner similar to the one previously described, maincontroller 20 waits for the exposure to wafer W on fine movement stageWFS2 to be completed, in a state where coarse movement stage WCS2 iswaiting at the waiting position previously described.

Hereinafter, a similar processing is repeatedly performed, alternatelyusing fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2, and an exposure processing toa plurality of wafer Ws is continuously performed.

As is described in detail so far, according to exposure apparatus 1000of the second embodiment, an equivalent effect can be obtained as inexposure apparatus 100 of the first embodiment previously described,because the configuration is similar to the exposure apparatus of thefirst embodiment previously described except for some parts. As well asthis, according to exposure apparatus 1000 of the second embodiment, theexchange position where exchange of wafer W held by fine movement stagesWFS1 and WFS2 is performed is placed on a movement path of fine movementstages WFS1 and WFS2 between measurement station 300 and exposurestation 200. Therefore, after the exposure of wafer W held by finemovement stage WFS1 or WFS2 has been performed at exposure station 200,prior to moving the fine movement stage WFS1 or WFS2 to measurementstation 300, it becomes possible to perform exchange of a wafer whichhas been exposed held by fine movement stage WFS1 and WFS2 to a newwafer (that has not yet been exposed) swiftly at the exchange position,which allows a wafer exchange with less loss of time.

Incidentally, in the second embodiment described above, a center table130 was installed on which fine movement stages WFS1 or WFS2 is mountedtemporarily on the movement path of fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2between measurement station 300 and exposure station 200, and waferexchange was to be performed on the table main body of center table 130.However, as well as this, the configuration of the wafer exchange systemis not limited in particular, as long as wafer exchange can be performedon the fine movement stage when fine movement stage WFS1 or WFS2 holdingwafer W which has been exposed is located at a place besides exposurestation 200 and measurement station 300 within the XY plane. In such acase, wafer exchange is performed regardless of the exposure processingand the measurement processing such as alignment. Therefore, in exposurestation 200, concurrently with exposure of the wafer held by one of thefine movement stages, wafer exchange of a wafer held by another finemovement stage can be performed, or in measurement station 300,concurrently with measurement such as alignment of the wafer held by oneof the fine movement stages, wafer exchange of a wafer held by anotherfine movement stage can be performed. Further, similar to the secondembodiment described above, in the case the wafer exchange position isplaced on the movement path of fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2between measurement station 300 and exposure station 200, anyconfiguration of an exchange device or a support member which is to beplaced at the exchange position described above can be employed, as longas the movement and mount of the fine movement stage holding the waferon which alignment measurement has been performed and is supported bycoarse movement stage WCS2 to coarse movement stage WCS1 is notinterfered.

Incidentally, in the second embodiment above, the case has beendescribed where wafer exchange on fine movement stage WFS1 or WFS2 isperformed by chuck unit 102, which is equipped with Bernoulli chuck 108driven vertically by drive section 104, and wafer carrier arm 118,working together. However, as well as this, in the second embodimentabove, for example, a Bernoulli chuck can be fixed to the tip of an armof a horizontal multijoint robot that can move vertically, and such adevice can be used as the wafer exchange device. Besides this, a chuckunit having a configuration similar to chuck unit 102 can be structureddrivable along a guide.

Further, in exposure apparatus 1000 of the second embodiment describedabove, when fine movement stages WFS1 or WFS2 holding a newly loadedwafer W is delivered to coarse movement stage WCS2 from center table 130after the wafer exchange, in order to adjust positional shift androtational error of the wafer, for example, three imaging devices topick up an image of three places in the periphery of wafer W including anotch (a V-shaped notch, not shown), or a detection system to detect amark (or a pattern) on the wafer, such as, for example, a plurality ofmicroscopes equipped with a CCD and the like, can be provided. Further,in the case grating RG is provided on the back surface of fine movementstages WFS1 and WFS2, center table 130 needs to hold fine movementstages WFS1 and WFS2 so that the stages do not come into contact withgrating RG.

In the second embodiment above, in the case coarse movement stage WCS1and coarse movement stage WCS2 are made to be in proximity to deliverfine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 between the two coarse movementstages WCS1 and WCS2 reciprocally, both of the stages do not have to beextremely close together. Coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2 can bedistanced within a range where the fine movement stage is not tiltedgreatly (that is, the stator and the mover of the linear motor do notcome into contact) when the fine movement stage is moved between coarsemovement stages WCS1 and WCS2.

A Third Embodiment

A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below,with reference to FIGS. 42 to 59. Here, from a viewpoint of avoidingrepetition, the same or similar reference numerals will be used for thesame or similar sections as in the first and second embodimentspreviously described, and a detailed description thereabout will besimplified or omitted.

FIG. 42 shows a schematic configuration of an exposure apparatus 2000 inthe third embodiment in a planar view. Exposure apparatus 2000 is aprojection exposure apparatus by the step-and-scan method, or aso-called scanner.

As shown in FIG. 42, exposure apparatus 2000 is equipped with anexposure station 200 in which exposure to wafer W is performed, ameasurement station 300 placed away by a predetermined distance to the+Y side of exposure station 200, a center table 130 placed betweenmeasurement station 300 and exposure station 200, two wafer stages WST1and WST2, an unload table 150 placed away by a predetermined distance tothe −X side of exposure station 200, a load table 152 which is locatedon the +Y side of unload table 150 and on, the −X side of measurementstation 300, a robot arm 140 which is movable within a plane parallel toan XY plane and is also movable (vertically movable) in the Z-axisdirection, a load arm 142; and an unload arm 144.

Exposure station 200 is placed close to an end on the −Y side of a baseboard 12, and measurement station 300 is placed close to the end on the+Y side of base board 12, as shown in FIG. 43. Further, center table 130is placed in between measurement station 300 and exposure station 200.Wafer stages WST1 and WST2 are placed on base board 12. Now, as it canalso be seen from FIG. 42, in the third embodiment, three fine movementstages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 which are configured totally the same, areprovided as the fine movement stages.

As shown in FIG. 42, center table 130 is placed at a position betweenmeasurement station 300 and exposure station 200, with the center of thetable substantially coinciding on reference axis LV previouslydescribed. Center table 130, as is shown in FIG. 44, is equipped with adriver 132, a shaft 134, a table main section 136 and the like, similarto the second embodiment previously described. In this case, while theshape of table main body 136 is different from center table 130 in thesecond embodiment previously described and is an X-shape in a planarview, the function and the like of each part configuring center table130 is equivalent. Driver 132 is controlled by main controller 20 (referto FIG. 45).

Referring back to FIG. 42, while unload table 150 and load table 152 areconfigured similar to center table 130 previously described, with theseunload table 150 and load table 152, the table main body does notnecessarily have to move vertically.

In the third embodiment, to unload wafer W which has already beenexposed, the fine movement stage holding the wafer is mounted on unloadtable 150. In other words, an unloading position ULP is set on unloadtable 150. To load wafer W to which exposure has not yet been performed,the fine movement stage is mounted on load table 152. In other words, aloading position LP is set on load table 152.

Robot arm 140 carries the fine movement stage back and forth, betweenthe three tables 130,150, and 152. Robot arm 140 is controlled by maincontroller 20 (refer to FIG. 45).

Load arm 142 and unload arm 144 each consist of, for example, an arm ofa multijoint robot, and each have a disc-shaped Bernoulli chuck (alsocalled a float chuck) 108 at the tip.

Load arm 142 and unload arm 144 include Bernoulli chuck 108, and arecontrolled by main controller 20 (refer to FIG. 45).

The stage system of exposure apparatus 2000 of the third embodiment isconfigured similar to the stage system of the second embodimentpreviously described except for the point that three fine movementstages are provided. Fine movement stage WFS3 is configured similar tofine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2, and can replace fine movement stagesWFS1 and WFS2.

FIG. 45 shows a configuration of the control system of exposureapparatus 2000 in a block diagram. The control system is mainlyconfigured of main controller 20 that performs overall control of eachsection configuring exposure apparatus 2000, as is previously described.

In exposure apparatus 2000 of the third embodiment, when manufacturing adevice, exposure by the step-and-scan method is performed on wafer Wheld by the fine movement stages (one of WFS1 to WFS3, in this case,WFS1) held by coarse movement stage WCS1 located in exposure station200, and a pattern of reticle R is transferred on each of a plurality ofshot areas on wafer W. The exposure operation by this step-and scanmethod is performed by main controller 20, by repeating a movementoperation between shots in which wafer stage WST1 is moved to a scanningstarting position (an acceleration starting position) fox exposure ofeach shot area on wafer W, and a scanning exposure operation in which apattern formed on reticle R is transferred onto each of the shot areasby the scanning exposure method, based on results of wafer alignment(for example, information on array coordinates of each shot area onwafer W obtained by enhanced global alignment (EGA) that has beenconverted into a coordinate which uses the second fiducial marks onplate 86 as a reference) that has been performed beforehand, and resultsof reticle alignment and the like. Incidentally, the exposure operationdescribed above is performed by liquid immersion exposure. Further,exposure is performed in the following order, from the shot area locatedon the +Y side on wafer W to the shot area located on the −Y side.

In exposure apparatus 2000 of the third embodiment, during the series ofexposure operations described above, main controller 20 measures theposition of fine movement stage WFS1 (wafer W) using fine movement stageposition measurement system 70A, and the position of wafer W iscontrolled based on the measurement results.

In the third embodiment, in parallel with exposure to wafer W beingperformed on one of the fine movement stages, wafer alignment isperformed on another fine movement stage, and further in parallel withthese operations, wafer exchange is performed on another fine movementstage.

Hereinafter, a parallel processing operation which is performed usingthe three fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 in exposureapparatus 2000 of the third embodiment will be described.

FIG. 46 shows a state where fine movement stage WFS1 is at exposurestation 200 and the exposure described above is being performed on waferW held by fine movement stage WFS1, while fine movement stage WFS2 is atmeasurement station 300 and alignment is being performed on wafer W heldby fine movement stage WFS2. At this point, fine movement stage WFS3 iswaiting, while holding a new wafer W on load table 152.

Alignment to wafer W held by fine movement stage WFS2 is performed in aprocedure similar to the one previously described by main controller 20.As a result of this wafer alignment, information on array coordinates ofeach shot area on wafer W acquired from the wafer alignment, such as forexample, EGA, which is converted into array coordinates which are basedon the second fiducial marks can be obtained.

FIG. 42 shows a state of when the wafer alignment has been completed. Asit can be seen from FIG. 42, a state is shown where exposure to wafer Wheld by fine movement stage WFS1 in exposure station 200 is nearlycompleted.

FIG. 51A shows a positional relation of coarse movement stages WCS1 andWCS2 at the stage when wafer alignment to wafer W held by fine movementstage WFS2 described above has been completed. Main controller 20 waitsfor the exposure to wafer W on fine movement stage WFS1 to be completed,in a state where wafer stage WST2 is waiting at a position shown in FIG.51A. FIG. 48 shows a state of wafer stage WST1 immediately after theexposure is completed.

Prior to the completion of exposure, main controller 20 drives movableblade BL which has been waiting on the −Y side of projection unit PUdownward by a predetermined amount via blade drive system 58, as isshown by an outlined arrow in FIG. 47. By this drive, the upper surfaceof movable blade BL is positioned to be flush with the upper surface offine movement stage WFS1 (and wafer W) located below projection opticalsystem PL, as shown in FIG. 47. Then, main controller 20 waits for theexposure to be completed in this state.

Then, when exposure has been completed, main controller 20 drivesmovable blade BL in the +Y direction by a predetermined amount (refer tothe outlined arrow in FIG. 48) via blade drive system 58, so as to makemovable blade BL be in contact or in proximity by a clearance of around300 μm to fine movement stage WFS1. More specifically, main controller20 sets movable blade BL and fine movement stage WFS1 to a scrum state.

Next, as shown in FIG. 49, main controller 20 drives movable blade BL inthe +Y direction (refer to the outlined arrow in FIG. 49) integrallywith wafer stage WST1, while maintaining a scrum state between movableblade BL and fine movement stage WFS1. By this operation, the liquidimmersion space area formed by liquid Lq held between tip lens 191 andfine movement stage WFS1 is passed from fine movement stage WFS1 tomovable blade BL. FIG. 49 shows a state just before the liquid immersionspace area formed by liquid Lq is passed from fine movement stage WFS1to movable blade BL. In the state shown in FIG. 49, liquid Lq is heldbetween tip lens 191, and fine movement stage WFS1 and movable blade BL.

Then, when the delivery of the liquid immersion space from fine movementstage WFS1 to movable blade BL is completed as shown in FIG. 50, maincontroller 20 drives coarse movement stage WCS1 holding fine movementstage WFS1 further in the +Y direction, and moves coarse movement stageWCS1 near coarse movement stage WCS2, which is waiting at a waitingposition while holding fine movement stage WFS2. By this movement, astate occurs where coarse movement stage WCS1 houses center table 130 inits internal space, and also supports fine movement stage WFS1 rightabove center table 130, as shown in FIG. 51B. More specifically, finemovement stage WFS1 is carried right above center table 130 by coarsemovement stage WCS1. FIG. 52 shows a state of exposure apparatus 2000 atthis point in a planar view.

Then, main controller 20 drives table main body 136 upward via driver132 of center table 130, and supports fine movement stage WFS1 frombelow.

And, in this state, main controller 20 releases the lock mechanism (notshown), and separates coarse movement stage WCS1 into the first sectionWCS1 a and the second section WCS1 b, By this operation, fine movementstage WFS1 is detachable from coarse movement stage WCS1. Therefore,main controller 20 drives table main body 136 supporting fine movementstage WFS1 downward, as is shown by the outlined arrow in FIG. 51C.

And then, main controller 20 locks the lock mechanism (not shown) afterthe first section WCS1 a and the second section WCS1 b are joinedtogether.

Next, main controller 20 makes coarse movement stage WCS2 almost comeinto contact with coarse movement stage WCS1, and also drives finemovement stage WFS2 in the −Y direction as is shown by the outlinedarrow in FIG. 51D, and moves and mounts (a slide movement) fine movementstage WFS2 from coarse movement stage WCS2 onto coarse movement stageWCS1.

Next, main controller 20 makes coarse movement stage WCS1 which supportsfine movement stage WFS2 move in the −Y direction as is shown by theoutlined arrow in FIG. 53A, and delivers the liquid immersion space areaheld with tip lens 191 from movable blade BL to fine movement stageWFS2. The delivery of this liquid immersion space area (liquid Lq) isperformed by reversing the procedure of the delivery of the liquidimmersion space area from fine movement stage WFS1 to movable blade BLpreviously described.

Then, prior to the beginning of exposure, main controller 20 performsreticle alignment in a procedure similar to the one previouslydescribed.

Concurrently with the delivery of the liquid immersion space area,reticle alignment, and exposure described above, operations such as a.to g. described below are performed.

a. More specifically, robot arms 140 is driven in the X-axis direction,the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction in a predeterminedprocedure (refer to the outlined arrows in FIG. 54) by main controller20, and fine movement stage WFS1 holding wafer W on which exposure hasbeen performed mounted on table main body 136 of center table 130 iscarried onto unload table 150 by robot arms 140. FIG. 55 shows a statewhere fine movement stage WFS1 has been carried onto unload table 150.At this point, wafer W on fine movement stage WFS2 is being exposed, andfine movement stage WFS3 is waiting while holding a new wafer W on loadtable 152.

b. Then, based on instructions from main controller 20, wafer W whichhas undergone exposure is unloaded from fine movement stage WFS1 onunload table 150 by unload arm 144.

On this unloading, unload arm 144 is driven downward by main controller20, until Bernoulli chuck 108 at the tip of unload arm 144 approacheswafer W (plate 83 of fine movement stage WFS1) to around several μm.Then, to maintain the gap of around several μm, the flow rate of the airblowing out from Bernoulli chuck 108 is adjusted by main controller 20.This allows wafer W to be held by suction in a non-contact manner fromabove by Bernoulli chuck 108, via a clearance of around several μm. Now,when fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2 or WFS3) is on unload table 150,fine movement stage WFS1 is connected to a pump, which is connected to asupply source of a pressurized gas, as is previously described, and in asimilar manner, assistance is performed, with respect to a suctionholding operation of wafer W using the Bernoulli chuck by releasing thesuction of wafer W by the wafer holder and blowing out pressurized gasfrom below. Incidentally, in a state where the pump is in an idle state(non-operating state) including the case where a wafer is suctioned, thegas supply line is closed by an action of a check valve (not shown).

And then, after unload arm 144 is driven upward, unload arm 144 isdriven within the XY plane. This allows unload arm 144 to carry wafer Wto a wafer unload position (for example, a delivery position (unloadingside) of the wafer between a coater developer which is connected in-lineto exposure apparatus 2000), and then is put on the wafer unloadposition. FIG. 56 shows a state where unload arm 144 moves away fromunload table 150.

c. In parallel with unloading wafer W which has been exposed describedabove, robot arms 140 is driven in the X-axis direction, the Yaxis-direction, and the Z-axis direction in a predetermined procedure bymain controller 20, and fine movement stage WFS3 holding the new wafer Wmounted on load table 152 is carried to center table 130 onto table mainbody 136, by robot arms 140. FIG. 57 shows a state where carriage offine movement stage WFS3 onto center table 130 has been completed. Afterthe carriage, table main body 136 of center table 130 is driven upwardby a predetermined amount via driver 132 by main controller 20. At thispoint in time, on fine movement stage WFS2, the exposure of wafer W isbeing, continued.

d. Subsequently, coarse movement stage WCS2 which has been waiting inthe vicinity of an alignment completing position is driven in the −Ydirection by main controller 20, and fine movement stage WFS3 supportedon table main body 136 is mounted on coarse movement stage WCS2, asshown in FIG. 58. Then, table main body 136 is driven downward by apredetermined amount. By the operation, fine movement stage WFS3 becomessupported by coarse movement stage WCS2.

e. Then, coarse movement stage WCS2 is driven in the +Y direction bymain controller 20, and is moved to measurement station 300.

f. Thereafter, detection of the second fiducial marks on fine movementstage WFS3 supported by coarse movement stage WCS2, alignment of wafer Won fine movement stage WFS3 and the like are performed in proceduressimilar to the ones previously described. Then, by main controller 20,array coordinates of each shot area on wafer W acquired from the waferalignment are converted into array coordinates which are based on thesecond fiducial marks. In this case as well, position measurement offine movement stage WFS3 on alignment is performed, using fine movementstage position measurement system 70B.

g. In parallel with operations such as attaching fine movement stageWFS3 to coarse movement stage WCS2, moving to measurement station 300,and alignment of wafer W on fine movement stage WFS3 described above,robot arm 140 is driven in the Z-axis direction and the Y-axis direction(and the X-axis direction) in a predetermined procedure by maincontroller 20, so that fine movement stage WFS1 mounted on unload table150 is carried to load table 152 by robot arm 140, and following thisoperation, a new (not yet exposed) wafer W is loaded on fine movementstage WFS1 roughly in a reversed procedure of the unloading previouslydescribed by main controller 20.

More specifically, main controller 20 controls load arm 142 and makesload arm 192 receive (makes Bernoulli chuck 108 hold the wafer bysuction) wafer W which is at a wafer loading position (for example, adelivery position (loading side) of the wafer between the coaterdeveloper), and makes load arm 142 carry wafer W to an area above finemovement stage WFS1 mounted on load table 152. FIG. 59 shows a state inwhich wafer W is being carried. At this point in time, exposure to waferW held by fine movement stage WFS1 is being continued, as well as thealignment of wafer W held by fine movement stage WFS3.

Then, main controller 20 drives load arm 142 holding wafer W downward toa position until the back surface of wafer W comes in contact with thewafer holder of fine movement stage WFS2. Then, main controller 20releases the suction of wafer W by Bernoulli chuck 108, and makes loadarm 142 withdraw to a predetermined waiting position. This allows a newwafer W to be loaded on fine movement stage WFS1 mounted on load table152. In this case, when fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2 or WFS3) is onload table 152, fine movement stage WFS1 is connected to a vacuum pump(not shown), and by main controller 20 making the vacuum pump operate,gas inside the decompression chamber (decompression space) formed by thewafer holder (omitted in drawing) and the back surface of wafer W isexhausted outside, which creates a negative pressure within thedecompression chamber and starts the suction of wafer W by the waferholder. And, when the vacuum pump is suspended by main controller 20,the exhaust pipe line is closed by an action of a check valve (notshown). Accordingly, fine movement stage WFS2 can be separated from thecoarse movement stage and can be carried without any problems.

After wafer W has been loaded on fine movement stage WFS1, a statesimilar to the case in FIG. 46, or more specifically, a state occurs inwhich the exposure described above is performed on wafer W held by finemovement stage WFS2 at exposure station 200, alignment is beingperformed on wafer W held by fine movement stage WFS3 which is atmeasurement station 300, and fine movement stage WFS1 is waiting whileholding a new wafer W on load table 152.

Hereinafter, a parallel processing as is previously described isrepeatedly performed by main controller 20, sequentially using finemovement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3, and an exposure processing to aplurality of wafer Ws is continuously performed.

As is described in detail so far, according to exposure apparatus 2000of the third embodiment, an equivalent effect can be obtained as inexposure apparatus 100 of the first embodiment previously described,because the configuration is similar to the exposure apparatus of thefirst embodiment previously described except for some parts. Further, inaddition, according to exposure apparatus 2000 of the third embodiment,in the case the fine movement stage (one of WFS1 WFS2, and WFS3) holdingwafer W is at a place besides the area above coarse movement stages WCS1and WCS2, or to be more concrete, on center table 130, unload table 150,or load table 152, exchange of wafer W is performed by an exchangesystem which includes robot arm 140, unload arm 144, load arm 142,center table 130, and main controller 20 which controls these arms 140,144, and 142, and center table 130. In other words, the exchange wafer Wis performed, regardless of the operation of coarse movement stages WCS1and WCS2. Therefore, in exposure station 200, concurrently with exposureof the wafer held by one of the fine movement stages (one of WFS1, WFS2,and WFS3), wafer exchange of a wafer held by another fine movement stagecan be performed, or in measurement station 300, concurrently withalignment (measurement) to wafer W held by one of the fine movementstages, wafer exchange of a wafer held by another fine movement stagecan be performed. In this case, in the third embodiment, because thereare three fine movement stages, concurrently with exposure of wafer Wheld by one fine movement stage (e.g., WFS1) in exposure station 200 andalignment (measurement) of wafer W held by another fine movement stage(e.g., WFS2) in measurement station 300, it becomes possible to performthe exchange of wafer W held by another fine movement stage (e.g.,WFS3). That is, because the three operations which are exposure,alignment, and wafer exchange can be performed concurrently, it becomespossible to improve the throughput remarkably. Accordingly, it ispossible to achieve wafer processing with a higher throughput thanbefore, for example, even in the case when a 450 mm wafer is subject toprocessing.

Further, in exposure apparatus 200 of the third embodiment, because thethree operations which are exposure, alignment, and wafer exchange canbe performed concurrently, there is no risk, especially of thethroughput decreasing, even if, for example, the same amount of time asthe exposure time is taken for alignment. Accordingly, alignment shotareas which are subject to wafer alignment can be increased, and forexample, all the shot areas can become an alignment shot area. Thisallows wafer alignment to be performed with high precision, which inturn can improve the overlay accuracy.

Incidentally, in the third embodiment above, three fine movement stagesWFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 were provided, and when a fine movement stage wasput on center table 130 between measurement station 300 and exposurestation 200, wafer exchange was performed by moving the fine movementstage from the position on center table 130 to another position.However, the wafer exchange method is not limited to this. For example,the configuration of the wafer exchange system is not limited inparticular, as long as wafer exchange can be performed on the finemovement stage when fine movement stage WFS1, WFS2, or WFS3 holdingwafer W which has been exposed is located at a place besides exposurestation 200 and measurement station 300 within the XY plane. In such acase, wafer exchange is performed regardless of the exposure processingand the measurement processing such as alignment. Therefore, in exposurestation 200, concurrently with exposure of the wafer held by one of thefine movement stages, wafer exchange of a wafer held by another finemovement stage can be performed, and furthermore, concurrently withthese operations, wafer exchange of a wafer held by another finemovement stage can be performed.

Alternatively, for example, only two fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2can be prepared. In this case, for example, when fine movement stageWFS1 (or WFS2) is on center table 130 which is placed on the movementpath of fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 between measurement station300 and exposure station 200, exchange of wafer W can be performed onfine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2). In such a case, after the exposureof wafer W held by fine movement stage WFS1 or WFS2 has been performedat exposure station 200, prior to moving the fine movement stage WFS1 orWFS2 to measurement station 300, it becomes possible to perform exchangeof a wafer which has been exposed held by fine movement stage WFS1 andWFS2 to a new wafer (that has not yet been exposed) swiftly at theexchange position, which allows a wafer exchange with less loss of time.

Incidentally, when focusing attention on carriage of the fine movementstage off of, or on center table 130 in the third embodiment above, thefine movement stage holding wafer W which has been exposed is carriedoff from center table 130 by robot arm 140 under the control of maincontroller 20, and the fine movement stage holding a new wafer W iscarried onto center table 130 by robot arms 140. Accordingly, it canalso be said that wafer W is exchanged integrally with the fine movementstage by robot arm 140.

Further, in the third embodiment above, in the case grating RG isprovided on the back surface of fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2,center table 130 needs to hold fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 sothat the stages do not come into contact with grating RG.

In the third embodiment above, in the case coarse movement stage WCS1and coarse movement stage WCS2 are made to be in proximity to deliverfine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, or WFS3 between the two coarse movementstages WCS1 and WCS2 reciprocally, both of the stages do not have to beextremely close together. Coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2 can bedistanced within a range where the fine movement stage is not tiltedgreatly (that is, the stator and the mover of the linear motor do notcome into contact) when the fine movement stage is moved between coarsemovement stages WCS1 and WCS2.

Incidentally, in each of the first, second, and third embodiments above,while the case has been described where coarse movement stages WCS1 andWCS2 were separable into the first section and the second section aswell as the first section and the second section being engageable,besides this, the first section and the second section may have any typeof arrangement, even when the first section and the second section arephysically constantly apart, as long as they are reciprocallyapproachable and dividable, and on separation, a holding member (thefine movement stage in the embodiment above) is detachable, whereas whenthe distance is closed, the holding member is supportable. Or, on thecontrary, the coarse movement stage does not necessarily have to beseparated into two sections, as in the fourth embodiment below. In thiscase, the notch on the bottom surface of coarse movement stages WCS1 andWCS2 where the shaft of the center table can enter, does not necessarilyhave to be provided. Further, in a coarse movement stage which isseparable into a first section and a second section as in coarsemovement stages WCS1 and WCS2 in the first to third embodiments above,the lock mechanism to lock both sections does not necessarily have to beprovided.

A Fourth Embodiment

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described,referring to FIGS. 60 to 71. Here, from a viewpoint of avoidingrepetition, the same or similar reference numerals will be used for thesame or similar sections as in the first and third embodimentspreviously described, and a detailed description thereabout will beomitted.

FIG. 60 shows a schematic configuration of an exposure apparatus 3000 inthe fourth embodiment in a planar view. Further, FIG. 61 is a blockdiagram showing an arrangement of a control system in exposure apparatus3000. Exposure apparatus 3000 is a projection exposure apparatus by thestep-and-scan method, or a so-called scanner.

As it can be seen when comparing FIG. 60 and FIG. 42, in exposureapparatus 3000 of the fourth embodiment, a relay stage DRST′ is placedin between measurement station 300 and exposure station 200, instead ofcenter table 130 previously described. In the fourth embodiment,corresponding to the point that center table 130 is not provided, thenotch previously described is not formed in coarse movement slidersection 91 of coarse movement stages WCS1′ and WCS2′. Further, in thefourth embodiment, because delivery of the fine movement stage is notperformed between coarse movement stages WCS1′, WCS2′ and center table130, coarse movement stages WCS1′ and WCS2′ do not have to be separatedinto two sections. Therefore, coarse movement stages WCS1′ and WCS2′employ an inseparable configuration. More specifically, coarse movementstages WCS1′ and WCS2′ are configured in a similar manner as in coarsemovement stages WCS1 and WCS2 of the third embodiment previouslydescribed, except for the presence of the notch and whether or not thestages are separable.

In exposure apparatus 3000 of the fourth embodiment, a load stage 156and an unload stage 154 are installed at unloading position ULP andloading position LP, instead of unload table 150 and load table 152 inthe third embodiment previously described. Load stage 156 and unloadstage 154 are basically configured in a similar manner as in coarsemovement stages WCS1′ and WCS2′, however, in the bottom plate sectioncorresponding to coarse movement slider section 91 previously described,a magnet unit (permanent magnet 18) and an air bearing 94 are notprovided. Incidentally, instead of load stage 156 and unload stage 154,a member in which a pair of stator sections 93 a and 93 b is integratedin a positional relation similar to the one previously described can beused.

Relay stage DRST′ is configured similar to coarse movement stages WCS1′and WCS2′. In other words, unlike relay stage DRST in the firstembodiment previously described, relay stage DRST′ is not equipped witha carrier apparatus 46 which was installed inside the stage main body.Further, in the fourth embodiment, although it is not shown, base board12 is provided extending in an area between load stage 156 and unloadstage 154, and relay stage DRST′ is driven along base board 12 by adrive system consisting of a planar motor so that the stage moves inbetween a position shown in FIG. 60 and a position between load stage156 and unload stage 154. In the fourth embodiment, robot arm 140 is notprovided.

Relay stage DRST′ can support (hold) fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, orWFS3 in a non-contact manner as in coarse movement stages WCS1′ andWCS2′, and the fine movement stage supported by relay stage DRST′ can bedriven in directions of six degrees of freedom (X, Y, Z, θx, θy, and θz)by fine movement stage drive system 52C (refer to FIG. 61) with respectto relay stage DRST′. However, the fine movement stage should beslidable at least in the Y-axis direction with respect to relay stageDRST′.

Similarly, load stage 156 and unload stage 154 previously described canalso support (hold) fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, or WFS3 in anon-contact manner, and the fine movement stage supported by load stage156 and unload stage 154 can be driven at least in the Y-axis directionby fine movement stage drive systems 52D and 52E (refer to FIG. 61).

Positional information (also including rotation information in the θzdirection) in the XY plane of relay stage DRST′ is measured by aposition measurement system (not shown) including, for example, aninterferometer and/or an encoder and the like. The measurement resultsof the position measurement system is supplied to main controller 20(refer to FIG. 61) for position control of relay stage DRST′.

Further, in exposure apparatus 3000, the control content of maincontroller 20 differs from the third embodiment to some extent,according to the difference described above. However, except for suchdifferences, exposure apparatus 3000 is configured similar to exposureapparatus 2000.

Next, a parallel processing operation which is performed using the threefine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3 in exposure apparatus 3000 ofthe fourth embodiment will be described.

FIG. 62 shows a state where fine movement stage WFS1 is at exposurestation 200 and the exposure previously described is being performed onwafer W held by fine movement stage WFS1, while fine movement stage WFS2is at measurement station 300 and an alignment similar to the previouslydescription is being performed on wafer W held by fine movement stageWFS2. At this point, fine movement stage WFS3 is waiting, while holdinga new wafer W on load table 156.

Then, wafer alignment to wafer W held by fine movement stage WFS2 iscompleted. FIG. 60 shows a state of when the wafer alignment has beencompleted. As it can be seen from FIG. 60, a state is shown whereexposure to wafer W held by fine movement stage WFS1 in exposure station200 is nearly completed.

Main controller 20 waits for the exposure to wafer W on fine movementstage WFS1 to be completed, in a state where wafer stage WST2 and relaystage DRST′ are waiting at a position shown in FIG. 60.

And, when exposure has been completed, main controller 20 performs thedelivery of the liquid immersion space area from fine movement stageWFS1 to movable blade BL and drives coarse movement stage WCS1′ holdingfine movement stage WFS1 further in the +Y direction so that coarsemovement stage WCS1′ comes almost into contact with relay stage DRST′waiting at a waiting position, as well as drive fine movement stage WFS1in the +Y direction via fine movement stage drive systems 52B and 52C asis shown in by the outlined arrow in FIG. 63, and moves and mounts (aslide movement) fine movement stage WFS1 from coarse movement stageWCS1′ to relay stage DRST′.

Next, main controller 20 drives relay stage DST′ which supports finemovement stage WFS1 in the −X direction as is shown by the outlinedarrow in FIG. 64, and makes relay stage DST′ face unload stage 154 in astate almost in contact. Further, immediately after this, maincontroller 20 drives coarse movement stage WCS2′ supporting finemovement stage WFS2 in the −Y direction as is shown by the outlinedarrow in FIG. 64, and makes coarse movement stage WCS2′ come almost intocontact with coarse movement stage WCS1′.

Next, main controller 20 drives fine movement stage WFS2 in the −Ydirection via fine movement stage drive systems 52A and 52B, as is shownby the outlined arrow in FIG. 65, and moves and mounts (a slidemovement) fine movement stage WFS2 from coarse movement stage WCS2′ ontocoarse movement stage WCS1′. In parallel with this, main controller 20drives fine movement stage WFS1 holding wafer W on which exposure hasbeen performed in the −Y direction as is shown by the outlined arrow inFIG. 65 via fine movement stage drive systems 52C and 52D, and moves andmounts (a slide movement) fine movement stage WFS1 from relay stageDRST′ onto unload stage 154.

Following the moving and mounting of fine movement stage WFS2 fromcoarse movement stage WCS2′ to coarse movement stage WCS1′, maincontroller 20 moves coarse movement stage WCS1′ supporting fine movementstage WFS2 in the −Y direction, and delivers the liquid immersion spacearea held with tip lens 191 from movable blade BL to fine movement stageWFS2. The delivery of this liquid immersion space area (liquid Lq) isperformed by reversing the procedure of the delivery of the liquidimmersion space area from fine movement stage WFS1 to movable blade BLpreviously described. FIG. 66 shows a state immediately after thisdelivery of the liquid immersion area.

Then, as is shown by the outlined arrow in FIG. 66, main controller 20drives relay stage DRST′ in the +Y direction and makes relay stage DRST′face load stage 156, almost in a contact state. In parallel with this,main controller 20 drives coarse movement stage WCS2′ in the +Ydirection as is shown by the outlined arrow in FIG. 66, and moves coarsemovement stage WCS2′ to measurement station 300. At this point, finemovement stage WFS3 is still waiting, while holding a new wafer W onload table 156 (refer to FIG. 66).

Then, prior to the beginning of exposure, main controller 20 positionsfine movement stage WFS2 at the position shown in FIG. 66, and thenperforms reticle alignment in a procedure (a procedure disclosed in, forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,413 and the like) similar to a normalscanning stepper, using the pair of reticle alignment systems RA₁ andRA₂ previously described, and the pair of first fiducial marks onmeasurement plate 86 of fine movement stage WFS2 and the like. Then,main controller 20 performs exposure operation by the step-and-scanmethod, based on results of the reticle alignment and the results of thewafer alignment (array coordinates which uses the second fiducial marksof each of the shot areas on wafer W), and transfers the pattern ofreticle R on each of the plurality of shot areas on wafer W. In thisexposure, fine movement stage WFS2 is returned to the −Y side once afterthe reticle alignment, and then exposure is performed in the order fromshot areas on the +Y side on wafer W to the shot areas on the −Y side.

Concurrently with the reticle alignment, and exposure described above,operations such as h. to m. described below are performed.

h. That is, based on instructions from main controller 20, wafer W whichhas undergone exposure is unloaded from fine movement stage WFS1 onunload stage 154 by unload arm 144 in the procedure previouslydescribed. FIG. 67 shows a state where unload arm 144 moves away fromunload stage 154.

i. In parallel with unloading wafer W which has been exposed describedabove, main controller 20 moves and mounts fine movement stage WFS3holding the new wafer W from load stage 156 onto relay stage DRST′, asis shown in FIG. 67. Then, main controller 20 drives relay stage DRST′supporting fine movement stage WFS3 in the +X direction, as is shown bythe outlined arrow in FIG. 68. This allows relay stage DRST to facecoarse movement stage WCS2′ in a state almost in contact, as is shown inFIG. 68. At this point in time, on fine movement stage WFS2, theexposure of wafer W is being continued.

j. Fine movement stage WFS3 holding a new wafer W is then driven andslid in the +Y direction by main controller 20, as is shown by theoutlined arrow in FIG. 69, and then is moved and mounted from relaystage DRST′ to coarse movement stage WCS2′. Then, main controller 20drives relay stage DRST′ in the direction of unload stage 154, as isshown by the outlined arrow in FIG. 69. This allows relay stage DRST′ toface unload stage 154 in a state almost in contact, as is shown in FIG.70.

k. Thereafter, detection of the second fiducial marks on fine movementstage WFS3 supported by coarse movement stage WCS2′, alignment of waferW on fine movement stage WFS3 and the like are performed in proceduressimilar to the ones previously described. Then, by main controller 20,array coordinates of each shot area on wafer W acquired from the waferalignment are converted into array coordinates which are based on thesecond fiducial marks. In this case as well, position measurement offine movement stage WFS3 on alignment is performed, using fine movementstage position measurement system 70B.

l. In parallel with operations such as the detection of the secondfiducial marks on fine movement stage WFS3, alignment of wafer W on finemovement stage WFS3 and the like described above, main controller 20moves and mounts fine movement stage WFS1 from unload stage 154 ontorelay stage DRST′ as is shown in FIG. 70, and then from relay stageDRST′ to load stage 156, as is shown in FIG. 71.

m. Following this operation, a new (not yet exposed) wafer W is loadedonto fine movement stage WFS1 in the procedure previously described bymain controller 20. At this point in time, exposure to wafer W held byfine movement stage WFS2 is being continued, as well as the alignment ofwafer W held by fine movement stage WFS3.

After wafer W has been loaded on fine movement stage WFS1, a statesimilar to the case in FIG. 62, or more specifically, a state occurs inwhich the exposure described above is performed on wafer W held by finemovement stage WFS2 at exposure station 200, alignment is beingperformed on wafer W held by fine movement stage WFS3 which is atmeasurement station 300, and fine movement stage WFS1 is waiting whileholding a new wafer W on load stage 156.

Hereinafter, a parallel processing as is previously described isrepeatedly performed by main controller 20, sequentially using finemovement stages WFS1, WFS2, and WFS3, and an exposure processing to aplurality of wafer Ws is continuously performed.

As is described so far, according to exposure apparatus 3000 of thefourth embodiment, an equivalent effect can be obtained as in the thirdembodiment previously described. In this case, the delivery (moving andmounting) of the fine movement stage between coarse movement stageWCS1′, coarse movement stage WCS2′, and relay stage DRST′ can beperformed only by a slide movement of the fine movement stage in theY-axis direction. Therefore, according to exposure apparatus 3000, themoving and mounting operation of the fine movement stage between thethree stages described above is performed within a short time, whichallows the next operation to be started swiftly, which as a consequence,allows the throughput to be improved.

Incidentally, in the fourth embodiment, the fine movement stage holdingwafer W which has undergone exposure is delivered to unload stage 154 byrelay stage DRST′ which operates under the control of main controller20, and another fine movement stage holding a new wafer W is received byrelay stage DRST′ from load stage 156. Accordingly, when focusingattention on the in and out of the fine movement stage with respect torelay stage DRST′, it can also be said that wafer W is exchangedintegrally with the fine movement stage.

In the fourth embodiment above, between two stages of coarse movementstages WCS1, WCS2, relay stage DRST′, unload stage 154, and load stage156, in the case the two stages are made to be in proximity so that finemovement stages WFS1, WFS2, or WFS3 can be delivered, both of the stagesdo not have to be extremely close together. The two stages can bedistanced within a range where the fine movement stage is not tiltedgreatly (that is, the stator and the mover of the linear motor do notcome into contact) when the fine movement stage is moved between the twostages.

Incidentally, in each of the first to fourth embodiments (hereinaftershortly referred to as each of the embodiments), instead of theBernoulli chuck, for example, a chuck member and the like using adifferential evacuation as in a vacuum preload type static gas bearingcan be used, which can hold wafer W from above in a non-contact manner.

Further, in each of the embodiments above, in the case of using aBernoulli chuck, a sensor measuring the gap between the wafer and theBernoulli chuck does not necessarily have to be provided. Instead ofmeasuring the gap, the gap can also be measured indirectly by measuringthe pressure between the Bernoulli chuck and the object subject toholding (or the flow rate of the fluid blowing out from the Bernoullichuck). Further, in order to cancel the shift and/or rotation of thewafer held by the Bernoulli chuck when the wafer is loaded, instead ofmoving the fine movement stage (wafer holder), or along with moving thefine movement stage, the Bernoulli chuck can also be moved.

Further, in each of the embodiments and the like described above, thewafer does not have to be held only by the Bernoulli chuck after thewafer has been detached from the wafer holder using the Bernoulli chuck,and together with the Bernoulli chuck, or instead of the Bernoullichuck, the wafer can be held by a mechanical mechanism and the like. Thepoint is, holding the wafer using the Bernoulli chuck only has to bejust before delivering the wafer to the to the wafer holder, andimmediately after the delivery from the wafer holder. Further, while thecarrier apparatus which has the Bernoulli chuck was to have a robot arm,as well as this, a slider is also preferable.

Further, in each of the embodiments above, while the Bernoulli chuckassisted the suction holding operation of the wafer by blowing outpressurized gas from below when unloading the wafer from the waferholder using the Bernoulli chuck, it is a matter of course that such anassistance is not a mandatory.

Further, the exposure apparatus in each of the embodiments above,especially the stage device, is not limited to the configurationdescribed above, and other configurations can also be employed. Thepoint is, any configuration can be employed as long as the position ofthe wafer holder can be measured by the so-called back surfacemeasurement.

Incidentally, in each of the embodiments above, in the case of makingthe Bernoulli chuck and wafer W approach or move away from each other,at least one of a member in which the Bernoulli chuck is provided and afine movement stage holding wafer W should be driven in a verticaldirection. Further, also in the case of making the Bernoulli chuck andwafer W approach or move away from each other in a horizontal direction,at least one of the Bernoulli chuck and the fine movement stage shouldbe driven.

Incidentally, in each of the embodiments described above, the case hasbeen described where fine movement stage position measurement systems70A and 70B are made entirely of, for example, glass, and are equippedwith measurement arms 71A and 71B in which light can proceed inside.However, besides this, for example, at least only the part where each ofthe laser beams previously described proceed in the measurement arm hasto be made of a solid member which can pass through light, and the othersections, for example, can be a member that does not transmit light, andcan have a hollow structure. Further, as a measurement arm, for example,a light source or a photodetector can be built in the tip of themeasurement arm, as long as a measurement beam can be irradiated fromthe section facing the grating. In this case, the measurement beam ofthe encoder does not have to proceed inside the measurement arm. Or, inthe case of employing a grating interference type encoder system as theencoder system, the optical member on which the diffraction grating isformed only has to be provided on an arm that has low thermal expansion,such as for example, ceramics, Invar and the like. This is becauseespecially in an encoder system, the space where the beam separates isextremely narrow (short) so that the system is not affected by airfluctuation as much as possible. Furthermore, in this case, thetemperature can be stabilized by supplying gas whose temperature hasbeen controlled to the space between fine movement stage (wafer holder)and the arm (and beam optical path). Furthermore, the measurement armneed not have any particular shape.

Incidentally, in each of the embodiments described above, becausemeasurement arms 71A and 71B are fixed to main frame BD integrally,torsion and the like may occur due to internal stress (including thermalstress) in measurement arms 71A and 71B, which may change the relativeposition between measurement arms 71A, and 71B, and main frame BD.Therefore, as countermeasures against such cases, the position ofmeasurement arms 71A and 71B (a change in a relative position withrespect to main frame BD, or a change of position with respect to areference position) can be measured, and the position of measurementarms 71A and 71B can be finely adjusted, or the measurement resultscorrected, with actuators and the like.

Further, in each of the embodiments described above, while the case hasbeen described where measurement arms 71A and 71B are integral with mainframe BD, as well as this, measurement arms 71A and 71B and mainframe BDmay be separated. In this case, a measurement device (for example, anencoder and/or an interferometer) which measures a position (ordisplacement) of measurement arms 71A and 71B with respect to main frameBD (or a reference position), and an actuator and the like to adjust aposition of measurement arms 71A and 71B can be provided, and maincontroller 20 as well as other controllers can maintain a positionalrelation between main frame BD (and projection optical system PL) andmeasurement arms 71A and 71B at a predetermined relation (for example,constant), based on measurement results of the measurement device.

Further, a measurement system (sensor) to measure a variation inmeasurement arms 71A and 71B by an optical technique, a temperaturesensor, a pressure sensor, an acceleration sensor for vibrationmeasurement and the like can be provided in measurement arms 71A and71B. Or, a distortion sensor (strain gauge) or a displacement sensor canbe provided, so as to measure a variation in measurement arms 71A and71B. And, by using the values obtained by these sensors, positionalinformation obtained by fine movement stage position measurement system70A and/or wafer stage position measurement system 68A, or fine movementstage position measurement system 70B and/or wafer stage positionmeasurement system 68B can be corrected.

Further, in each of the embodiments described above, while the case hasbeen described where measurement arm 71A (or 71B) is supported in acantilevered state via one support member 72A (or 72B) from mainframeBD, as well as this, for example, measurement arm 71A (or 71B) can besupported by suspension from main frame BD via a U-shaped suspensionsection, including two suspension members which are arranged apart inthe X-axis direction. In this case, it is desirable to set the distancebetween the two suspension members so that the fine movement stage canmove in between the two suspension members.

Further, fine movement stage position measurement systems 70A and 703 donot always have to be equipped with a measurement arm, and will sufficeas long as the systems have a head which is placed facing grating RGinside the space of coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2 and receives adiffraction light from grating RG of at least one measurement beamirradiated on grating RG, and can measure the positional information offine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) at least within the KY plane, basedon the output of the head.

Further, in each of the embodiments described above, while an examplehas been shown where encoder system 73 is equipped with an X head and apair of Y heads, besides this, for example, one or two two-dimensionalheads (2D heads) whose measurement directions are in two directions,which are the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, can beprovided. In the case two 2D heads are provided, detection points of thetwo heads can be arranged to be two points which are spaced equallyapart in the X-axis direction on the grating, with the exposure positionserving as the center.

Incidentally, fine movement stage position measurement systems 70A and70B can measure positional information in directions of six degrees offreedom of the fine movement stage only by using encoder system 73,without being equipped with laser interferometer system 75. In thiscase, for example, an encoder which can measure positional informationin at least one of the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, andthe Z-axis direction can be used. As the encoder used in this case, asensor head system for measuring variation disclosed in, for example,U.S. Pat. No. 7,561,280, can be used. And, for example, by irradiatingmeasurement beams from a total of three encoders including an encoder(such as the sensor head system for measuring variation described above)which can measure positional information in the X-axis direction and theZ-axis direction and an encoder (such as the sensor head system formeasuring variation described above) which can measure positionalinformation in the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction, on threemeasurement points that are noncollinear, and receiving each of thereturn lights from grating RG, positional information of the movablebody on which grating RG is provided can be measured in directions ofsix degrees of freedom. Further, the configuration of encoder system 73is not limited to each of the embodiments described above, and isarbitrary. For example, a 3D head which can measure positionalinformation in each of the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis directionscan be used.

Incidentally, in each of the embodiments described above, while thegrating was placed on the upper surface of the fine movement stage, thatis, a surface that faces the wafer, as well as this, the grating can beformed on a wafer holder holding the wafer. In this case, even when awafer holder expands or an installing position to the fine movementstage shifts during exposure, this can be followed up when measuring theposition of the wafer holder (wafer). Further, the grating can be placedon the lower surface of the fine movement stage, and in such a case,grating RG can be fixed to or formed on an opaque member such asceramics. Further, in this case, the fine movement stage does not haveto be a solid member through which light can pass because themeasurement beam irradiated from the encoder head does not proceedinside the fine movement stage, and fine movement stage can have ahollow structure with the piping, wiring and like placed inside, whichallows the weight of the fine movement stage to be reduced. In thiscase, a protective member (a cover glass) can be provided on the surfaceof grating RG. Or, the hold wafer holder and grating RG can simply beheld by a conventional fine movement stage. Further, the wafer holdercan be made of a solid glass member, and grating RG can be placed on theupper surface (a wafer mounting surface) of the glass member.

Further, the drive mechanism of driving the fine movement stage withrespect to the coarse movement stage is not limited to the mechanismdescribed in the embodiment above. For example, in the embodiment, whilethe coil which drives the fine movement stage in the Y-axis directionalso functioned as a coil which drives fine movement stage in the Z-axisdirection, besides this, an actuator (linear motor) which drives thefine movement stage in the Y-axis direction and an actuator which drivesthe fine movement stage in the Z-axis direction, or more specifically,levitates the fine movement stage, can each be provided independently.In this case, because it is possible to make a constant levitation forceact on the fine movement stage, the position of the fine movement stagein the Z-axis direction becomes stable.

Incidentally, in each of the embodiments described above, while finemovement stages WFS1 and WFS2 are supported in a noncontact manner bycoarse movement stage WCS1 or WCS2 by the action of an electromagneticforce (the Lorentz force), besides this, for example, a vacuum preloadtype hydrostatic air bearings and the like can be arranged on finemovement stages WFS1 and WFS2 so that the stages are supported bylevitation with respect to coarse movement stage WCS1 or WCS2. Further,in the embodiment above, while fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 couldbe driven in directions of all 6 degrees of freedom, the presentinvention is not limited to this, and fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2only needs to be able to move within a two-dimensional plane which isparallel to the XY plane. Further, fine movement stage drive systems 52Aand 52B are not limited to the magnet moving type described above, andcan also be a moving coil type as well. Furthermore, fine movementstages WFS1 and WFS2 can also be supported in contact with coarsemovement stage WCS1 or WCS2. Accordingly, as the fine movement stagedrive system which drives fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 withrespect to coarse movement stage WCS1 or WCS2, for example, a rotarymotor and, a ball screw (or a feed screw) can also be combined for use.

Incidentally, in each of the embodiments described above, while the casehas been described where an alignment mark measurement (wafer alignment)was performed as an example of measurement to wafer W in measurementstation 300, as well as this (or instead of this), a surface positionmeasurement to measure a position the wafer W surface in an optical axisdirection AX of projection optical system PL can be performed. In thiscase, a surface position measurement of the upper surface of finemovement stage holding a wafer can be performed simultaneously with thesurface position measurement as is disclosed in, for example, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0088843 specification, and focusleveling control of wafer W at the time of exposure can be performed,using the results.

Incidentally, in the exposure apparatus in each of the embodimentsdescribed above, when fine movement stages WFS1, WFS2, or WFS3 holding anewly loaded wafer W is delivered to coarse movement stage WCS2 (WCS2′)from center table 130 or relay stage DRST′ after the wafer exchange, inorder to adjust positional shift and rotational error of the wafer, forexample, three imaging devices to pick up an image of three places inthe periphery of wafer W including a notch (a V-shaped notch, notshown), or a detection system to detect a mark (or a pattern) on thewafer, such as, for example, a plurality of microscopes equipped with aCCD and the like, can be provided.

Incidentally, the wafer used in the exposure apparatus of each of theembodiments above is not limited to the 450 mm wafer, and can be a waferof a smaller size (such as a 300 mm wafer).

Further, in each of the embodiments described above, while the case hasbeen described where the exposure apparatus is a liquid immersion typeexposure apparatus, the present invention is not limited to this, andcan also be employed in a dry type exposure apparatus that performsexposure of wafer W without liquid (water).

Incidentally, in each of the embodiments described above, while the casehas been described where the exposure apparatus is a scanning stepper,the present invention is not limited to this, and can also be a staticexposure apparatus such as a stepper. Further, the exposure apparatuscan also be a reduction projection exposure apparatus by astep-and-stitch method that synthesizes a shot area and a shot area.

Further, the magnification of the projection optical system in theexposure apparatus in each of the embodiments described above is notonly a reduction system, but also may be either an equal magnifying or amagnifying system, and projection optical system PL is not only adioptric system, but also may be either a catoptric system or acatadioptric system, and in addition, the projected image may be eitheran inverted image or an upright image.

In addition, the illumination light IL is not limited to ArF excimerlaser light (with a wavelength of 193 nm), but may be ultraviolet light,such as KrF excimer laser light (with a wavelength of 248 nm), or vacuumultraviolet light, such as F₂ laser light (with a wavelength of 157 nm).As disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,023,610, a harmonic wave,which is obtained by amplifying a single-wavelength laser beam in theinfrared or visible range emitted by a DFB semiconductor laser or fiberlaser, with a fiber amplifier doped with, for example, erbium (or botherbium and ytterbium), and by converting the wavelength into ultravioletlight using a nonlinear optical crystal, can also be used as vacuumultraviolet.

Further, in each of the embodiments described above, illumination lightIL of the exposure apparatus is not limited to the light having awavelength equal to or more than 100 nm, and it is needless to say thatthe light having a wavelength less than 100 nm can be used. For example,the embodiments above can be applied to an EUV exposure apparatus thatuses an EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) light in a soft X-ray region (e.g., awavelength range from 5 to 15 nm), or to an exposure apparatus that usescharged particle beams such as an electron beam or an ion beam.

Further, in each of the embodiments above, a transmissive type mask(reticle) is used, which is a transmissive substrate on which apredetermined light shielding pattern (or a phase pattern or a lightattenuation pattern) is formed. Instead of this reticle, however, as isdisclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,778,257 description, anelectron mask (which is also called a variable shaped mask, an activemask or an image generator, and includes, for example, a DMD (DigitalMicromirror Device) that is a type of a non-emission type image displaydevice (spatial light modulator) or the like) on which alight-transmitting pattern, a reflection pattern, or an emission patternis formed according to electronic data of the pattern that is to beexposed can also be used. In the case of using such a variable shapedmask, because the stage where a wafer, a glass plate or the like ismounted is scanned with respect to the variable shaped mask, anequivalent effect as each of the embodiments above can be obtained bymeasuring the position of this stage using an encoder system and a laserinterferometer system.

Further, as is disclosed in, for example, PCT International PublicationNo. 2001/035168, each of the embodiments above can also be applied to anexposure apparatus (lithography system) that forms line-and-spacepatterns on a wafer W by forming interference fringes on wafer W.

Moreover, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,316, each ofthe embodiments above can also be applied to an exposure apparatus thatsynthesizes two reticle patterns via a projection optical system andalmost simultaneously performs double exposure of one shot area by onescanning exposure.

Incidentally, an object on which a pattern is to be formed (an objectsubject to exposure to which an energy beam is irradiated) in each ofthe embodiments described above is not limited to a wafer, but may beother objects such as a glass plate, a ceramic substrate, a film member,or a mask blank.

The application of the exposure apparatus is not limited to an exposureapparatus for fabricating semiconductor devices, but can be widelyadapted to, for example, an exposure apparatus for fabricating liquidcrystal devices, wherein a liquid crystal display device pattern istransferred to a rectangular glass plate, as well as to exposureapparatuses for fabricating organic electroluminescent displays, thinfilm magnetic heads, image capturing devices (e.g., CCDs),micromachines, and DNA chips. In addition to fabricating microdeviceslike semiconductor devices, each of the embodiments above can also beadapted to an exposure apparatus that transfers a circuit pattern to aglass substrate, a silicon wafer, or the like in order to fabricate areticle or a mask used by a visible light exposure apparatus, an EUVexposure apparatus, an X-ray exposure apparatus, an electron beamexposure apparatus, and the like.

Electronic devices such as semiconductor devices are manufacturedthrough the steps of; a step where the function/performance design ofthe device is performed, a step where a reticle based on the design stepis manufactured, a step where a wafer is manufactured from siliconmaterials, a lithography step where the pattern of a mask (the reticle)is transferred onto the wafer by the exposure apparatus (patternformation apparatus) and the exposure method in the embodimentpreviously described, a development step where the wafer that has beenexposed is developed, an etching step where an exposed member of an areaother than the area where the resist remains is removed by etching, aresist removing step where the resist that is no longer necessary whenetching has been completed is removed, a device assembly step (includinga dicing process, a bonding process, the package process), inspectionsteps and the like. In this case, in the lithography step, because thedevice pattern is formed on the wafer by executing the exposure methodpreviously described using the exposure apparatus in each of theembodiments described above, a highly integrated device can be producedwith good productivity.

Incidentally, the disclosures of all publications, the PCT InternationalPublications, the U.S. patent applications and the U.S. patents that arecited in the description so far related to exposure apparatuses and thelike are each incorporated herein by reference.

While the above-described embodiments of the present invention are thepresently preferred embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art oflithography systems will readily recognize that numerous additions,modifications, and substitutions may be made to the above-describedembodiments without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. It isintended that all such modifications, additions, and substitutions fallwithin the scope of the present invention, which is best defined by theclaims appended below.

1. An object exchange method in which a thin plate-shaped object isexchanged on a holding member, the method comprising: positioning anunload member above the object which is mounted on the holding member;relatively moving the unload member and the holding member in a verticaldirection, and making the unload member approach a position which is apredetermined distance away from an upper surface of the object; andmaking the unload member hold the object from above in a non-contactmanner, and making the unload member holding the object and the holdingmember move apart.
 2. The object exchange method according to claim 1wherein when relatively moving the unload member and the holding member,distance between the unload member and the object upper surface isdetected using a sensor.
 3. The object exchange method according toclaim 1 wherein after moving apart, at least one of the unload memberholding the object and the holding member moves within a horizontalplane, and moves apart from each other in the horizontal plane.
 4. Theobject exchange method according to claim 1, the method wherein theunload member holding the object is moved apart upward of the holdingmember, and the method further comprising: positioning another unloadmember which carries the object under the unload member and above theholding member, and delivering the object using the unload member to theanother unload member, after the unload member and the holding memberare moved apart.
 5. The object exchange method according to claim 4wherein after the unload member releases the holding of the object bythe holding member, the another unload member holds in contact theobject which has been held by the unload member in a non-contact manner.6. The object exchange method according to claim 4, the method furthercomprising: holding the object in a non-contact manner from above by afirst carrier member above the holding member; driving the first carriermember holding the object downward until a lower surface of the objectcomes in contact with the holding member, and releasing a hold of theobject by the first carrier member at a stage where the lower surface ofthe object comes in contact with the holding member; and moving apartthe first carrier member which has released the hold of the object fromthe holding member.
 7. The object exchange method according to claim 6,the method further comprising: prior to being held by the first carriermember, the object is carried by a second carrier member to bepositioned under the unload member and above the holding member.
 8. Theobject exchange method according to claim 7 wherein the second carriermember is an identical member of the another unload member.
 9. Theobject exchange method according to claim 6 wherein the object is heldby the first carrier member at a position away from above the holdingmember within a horizontal plane.
 10. The object exchange methodaccording to claim 6, the method further comprising: measuringpositional information of the object while the first carrier member ismoving downward, before the lower surface of the object comes in contactwith the holding member; and adjusting a position of the holding memberbased on a measurement result of the positional information, prior tothe lower surface of the object coming in contact with the holdingmember.
 11. The object exchange method according to claim 6 wherein theunload member is an identical member of the first carrier member.
 12. Anexposure method, comprising: exchanging a thin plate-shaped object onthe holding member by the object exchange method according to claim 6;and exposing the object held by the holding member with an energy beamafter the object has been exchanged, and forming a pattern on theobject.
 13. An exposure method in which an object is exposed with anenergy beam, and a pattern is formed on the object, the methodcomprising: positioning an unload member above the object which ismounted on the holding member; relatively moving the unload member andthe holding member in a vertical direction, and making the unload memberapproach a position which is a predetermined distance away from an uppersurface of the object; and making the unload member hold the object fromabove in a non-contact manner, and making the unload member holding theobject and the holding member move apart.
 14. The exposure methodaccording to claim 13 wherein positional information of the holdingmember is measured by irradiating a measurement beam on a measurementplane of the holding member from a back surface side of the holdingmember at the time of exposure of the object, and receiving a returnlight of the measurement beam.
 15. A device manufacturing method,including exposing an object by the exposure method according to claim13; and developing the object which has been exposed.
 16. An exposuremethod in which an object is exposed with an energy beam, the methodcomprising: supporting each of a plurality of holding members that holdthe object relatively movable, by a first movable body which is movablewithin a first range in a two-dimensional plane including a first axisand a second axis that are orthogonal to each other that includes afirst area where an exposure processing of irradiating the energy beamon an object is performed, and a second movable body which is movablewithin a second range placed at a position a predetermined distance awayfrom the first area on one side of a direction parallel to the firstaxis and where a measurement processing is performed with respect to anobject; and performing an exchange of the object when the holding memberis at a place other than on the first and second movable bodies.
 17. Theexposure method according to claim 16 wherein positional information ofthe holding member is measured by irradiating a measurement beam on ameasurement plane of the holding member from a back surface side of theholding member at the time of exposure of the object, and receiving areturn light of the measurement beam.
 18. The exposure method accordingto claim 16 wherein the first movable body is separable into a firstsection and a second section in a direction parallel to the second axis,and when exchanging the object, the first movable body is separated intothe first section and the second section and the holding member isdelivered from the first movable body onto a support member installedbetween the first area and the second area, and the holding member whichhas been delivered on the support member is carried to a predeterminedexchange position by a carrier member.
 19. The exposure method accordingto claim 16 wherein when exchanging the object, the holding member isdelivered from the first movable body to a third movable body which ismovable within the two-dimensional plane, and the third movable body ismoved to a predetermined exchange position.
 20. A device manufacturingmethod, including exposing an object by the exposure method according toclaim 16; and developing the object which has been exposed.
 21. Acarrier system which carries a thin plate-shaped object, the systemcomprising: a carrier apparatus which has a holding section that canhold an object from above in a non-contact manner, and relatively drivesthe holding member holding the object and the holding section within apredetermined plane parallel to a horizontal plane, positions theholding section above the object mounted on the holding member,relatively moves the holding section and the holding member in avertical direction, makes the holding section approach a position whichis a predetermined distance away from an upper surface of the object,makes the holding section hold the object on the holding member fromabove in a non-contact manner, and makes the holding section and theholding member move apart within a predetermined plane after making theholding section holding the object and the holding member move apart ina vertical direction.
 22. The carrier system according to claim 21wherein the holding section includes a Bernoulli chuck which holds theobject in a non-contact manner using a Bernoulli effect.
 23. The carriersystem according to claim 21 wherein the carrier apparatus includes afirst member which is provided with the holding section and relativelymoves in a vertical direction with respect to the holding member, and asecond member which performs delivery of the object between the firstmember and is relatively movable with respect to the holding member in adirection parallel to the predetermined plane.
 24. The carrier systemaccording to claim 21 wherein the carrier apparatus includes a carriermember which is provided with the holding section and is relativelymovable with respect to the holding member in the vertical direction anda direction parallel to the predetermined plane.
 25. The carrier systemaccording to claim 21 wherein the carrier apparatus further includes asensor which is provided in the holding section and detects a distancebetween the holding section and the upper surface of the object when theholding section and the holding member is relatively moved in a verticaldirection, and makes the holding section approach a position of apredetermined distance from the upper surface of the object whiledetecting the distance with the sensor.
 26. The carrier system accordingto claim 21 wherein the carrier apparatus relatively moves the holdingsection holding the object and the holding member in a verticaldirection and mounts the object on the holding member when the holdingmember is positioned at a first position within a predetermined plane.27. The carrier system according to claim 26 wherein the carrierapparatus further includes a measurement system which is provided in theholding section and measures positional information of the object, andmakes a movement of at least one of the holding section and the holdingmember which are moving during the relative movement stop once beforethe lower surface of the object comes in contact with the holding memberwhile a movement of the holding section and the holding member in avertical direction is performed to measure positional information of theobject using the measurement system, and the carrier system furthercomprises an adjustment device which adjusts a position of at least oneof the holding section and the holding member based on measurementresults of the positional information, prior to the lower surface of theobject coming in contact with the holding member.
 28. An exposureapparatus that exposes a thin plate-shaped object with an energy beamand forms a pattern on the object, the apparatus comprising: a carriersystem according to claim 21; a movable body which holds a holdingmember in which a measurement plane is provided on a plane substantiallyparallel to the predetermined plane relatively movable along thepredetermined plane, and is movable along the predetermined plane; afirst measurement system which irradiates at least one first measurementbeam on the measurement plane from below, and receives light of thefirst measurement beam from the measurement plane and measurespositional information at least within the predetermined plane of theholding member; and a drive system which drives the holding member inone of an individual and integral manner with the movable body, based onthe positional information measured by the first measurement system. 29.An exposure apparatus that exposes a thin plate-shaped object with anenergy beam and forms a pattern on the object, the apparatus comprising:a carrier system which is equipped with a carrier device which has aholding section that can hold an object from above in a non-contactmanner, and relatively drives the holding member holding the object andthe holding section within a predetermined plane parallel to ahorizontal plane, positions the holding section above the object mountedon the holding member, relatively moves the holding section and theholding member in a vertical direction, makes the holding sectionapproach a position which is a predetermined distance away from an uppersurface of the object, makes the holding section hold the object on theholding member from above in a non-contact manner, and makes the holdingsection and the holding member move apart within a predetermined planeafter making the holding section holding the object and the holdingmember move apart in a vertical direction.
 30. The exposure apparatusaccording to claim 29, the apparatus further comprising: a firstmeasurement system which measures positional information of the holdingmember by a back surface measurement at the time of exposure of theobject.
 31. The exposure apparatus according to claim 30 wherein themovable body has a space inside, and the first measurement system has ahead section which is placed inside the space of the movable body facingthe measurement plane, irradiates at least one measurement beam on themeasurement plane from below, and receives light from the measurementplane of the first measurement beam.
 32. A device manufacturing method,including exposing an object using the exposure apparatus according toclaim 29; and developing the object which has been exposed.
 33. Anexposure apparatus that exposes an object with an energy beam, theapparatus comprising: an exposure processing section in which exposureprocessing of irradiating the energy beam onto an object held by aholding member is performed; a measurement processing section which isplaced away from the exposure processing section on one side in adirection parallel to a first axis and in which measurement processingwith respect to an object held by a holding member is performed; and anobject exchange system which performs an exchange of the object when theholding member is at a place other than on a movable body which isplaced in each of the exposure processing section and the measurementprocessing section.
 34. The exposure apparatus according to claim 33wherein the object exchange system exchanges the object at a positiondifferent from the first and second movable bodies.
 35. The exposureapparatus according to claim 33 wherein the object exchange systemperforms exchange of the object outside a movable range of the first andsecond movable bodies in the exposure processing and the measurementprocessing.
 36. The exposure apparatus according to claim 35 wherein theobject exchange system performs exchange of the object at a positionbesides the exposure processing section and the measurement processingsection.
 37. The exposure apparatus according to claim 33 wherein theobject exchange system performs an exchange of the object at an exchangeposition which is on a movement path of the holding member in betweenthe measurement processing section and the exposure processing section.38. The exposure apparatus according to claim 37 wherein at the exchangeposition, exchange of the object held by the holding member isperformed.
 39. The exposure apparatus according to claim 38 wherein theobject exchange system includes a support member which is installed atthe exchange position, and can support the holding member that holds theobject from below.
 40. The exposure apparatus according to claim 39wherein the object exchange system further includes an object exchangedevice which unloads the object on the holding member supported by thesupport member, as well as load a new object on the holding member. 41.The exposure apparatus according to claim 39 wherein a measurement planeis provided on a plane substantially parallel to the two-dimensionalplane of the holding member, and the apparatus further comprises: afirst measurement system which irradiates at least one first measurementbeam from below on the measurement plane and receives a return light ofthe first measurement beam to measure a positional information of theholding member within the two-dimensional plane when the holding memberis at the exposure processing section.
 42. The exposure apparatusaccording to claim 41, the apparatus further comprising: a secondmeasurement system which irradiates at least one second measurement beamfrom below on the measurement plane and receives a return light of thesecond measurement beam to measure a positional information of theholding member within the two-dimensional plane when the holding memberis at the measurement processing section.
 43. The exposure apparatusaccording to claim 42, the apparatus further comprising: a first andsecond movable body which are independently movable within thetwo-dimensional plane, and each movably support the holding member. 44.The exposure apparatus according to claim 43 wherein the support memberis vertically movable.
 45. The exposure apparatus according to claim 44wherein at least one of the first and second movable bodies has a spaceinside, and on its bottom surface, one of an aperture and a notch isprovided, which allows the first and second movable bodies to approacheach other without being disturbed by the support member.
 46. Theexposure apparatus according to claim 45 wherein at least one of thefirst movable body and the second movable body is separable in adirection parallel to the second axis.
 47. The exposure apparatusaccording to claim 46 wherein the first measurement system has a firstmeasurement arm which consists of a member extending in a directionparallel to the first axis that can be inserted at least from one sideinto the space of the first movable body, and irradiates the firstmeasurement beam on the measurement plane and receives a return light ofthe first measurement beam, and the second measurement system has asecond measurement arm which consists of a member extending in adirection parallel to the first axis that can be inserted at least fromone side into the space of the second movable body, and irradiates thesecond measurement beam on the measurement plane and receives a returnlight of the second measurement beam.
 48. The exposure apparatusaccording to claim 47 wherein the first and second measurement arms areeach a cantilevered member whose one end in a direction parallel to thefirst axis is a fixed end, and the other end is a free end.
 49. Theexposure apparatus according to claim 47 wherein the holding member hasat least a part of a solid section where a light can travel inside, andthe measurement plane has a grating which is placed facing the solidsection on a mounting surface side of the object of the holding member,whose periodic direction is in a direction parallel to at least one ofthe first axis and the second axis, and the first and second measurementarms each have a head which irradiates the first measurement beam andthe second measurement beam on the grating, respectively, and receives adiffraction light from the grating, and the first and second measurementsystems each measure a positional information of the holding member in aperiodic direction of the grating, based on an output of the heads. 50.The exposure apparatus according to claim 43 wherein the first movablebody moves within a first range in a direction parallel to the firstaxis, the second movable body moves within a second range in thedirection parallel to the first axis, and the support member is set at aposition where the first range and the second range overlap each other.51. The exposure apparatus according to claim 43 wherein the holdingmember is prepared in plurals, and each of the plurality of holdingmembers is supportable by the first and second movable bodies.
 52. Theexposure apparatus according to claim 43, the apparatus furthercomprising an optical member which has an outgoing plane that emits theenergy beam; and a liquid immersion device which has a liquid immersionmember that supplies liquid between the optical member and the holdingmember held by the first movable body.
 53. The exposure apparatusaccording to claim 52, the apparatus further comprising; a shuttermember which holds the liquid with the optical member.
 54. The exposureapparatus according to claim 33, the apparatus further comprising: afirst and second movable body which is independently movable within thetwo-dimensional plane, and each movably support the holding member, andthe object exchange system performs an exchange of the object when theholding member is at a place other than on the first and second movablebodies.
 55. The exposure apparatus according to claim 54 wherein thefirst movable body is separable into a first section and a secondsection in a direction parallel to the second axis, and the exchangesystem includes a support member which is set in between the exposureprocessing section and the measurement processing section and canreceive the holding member from the first movable body when the firstmovable body supporting the holding member is separated, and a carriermember which can carry the holding member mounted on the support member,and carries the holding member delivered from the first movable body tothe support member to a predetermined exchange position by the carriermember to perform an exchange of the object.
 56. The exposure apparatusaccording to claim 55 wherein on a bottom surface of at least one of thefirst movable body and the second movable body, one of an aperture and anotch is provided, which allows proximity to each other without beingdisturbed by the support member.
 57. The exposure apparatus according toclaim 56 wherein the support member is vertically movable.
 58. Theexposure apparatus according to claim 57 wherein the holding member isprepared in plurals, and when the support member supports a firstholding member of the plurality of holding members at a predeterminedheight position, the first movable body and the second movable body arein proximity to each other and can reciprocally deliver a second holdingmember of the plurality of holding members.
 59. The exposure apparatusaccording to claim 54 wherein the object exchange system includes athird movable body which can deliver the holding member between thefirst movable body and is movable within the two-dimensional plane, andmoves the third movable body which has received the holding member fromthe first movable body to a predetermined exchange position and performsan exchange of the object.
 60. The exposure apparatus according to claim54 wherein a measurement plane is provided on a plane substantiallyparallel to the two-dimensional plane of the holding member, and theapparatus further comprises: a first measurement system which irradiatesat least one first measurement beam from below on the measurement planeof the holding member and receives a return light of the firstmeasurement beam so as to measure a positional information of theholding member within the two-dimensional plane, when the first movablebody supporting the holding member is at the exposure processingsection.
 61. The exposure apparatus according to claim 60, the apparatusfurther comprising; a second measurement system which irradiates atleast one second measurement beam from below on the measurement plane ofthe holding member and receives a return light of the second measurementbeam so as to measure a positional information of the holding memberwithin the two-dimensional plane, when the second movable bodysupporting the holding member is at the measurement processing section.62. The exposure apparatus according to claim 61 wherein the first andsecond movable members each have a space inside, the first measurementsystem has a first measurement arm which consists of a member extendingin a direction parallel to the first axis that can be inserted at leastfrom one side into the space of the first movable body, and irradiatesthe first measurement beam on the measurement plane and receives areturn light of the first measurement beam, and the second measurementsystem has a second measurement arm which consists of a member extendingin a direction parallel to the first axis that can be inserted at leastfrom one side into the space of the second movable body, and irradiatesthe second measurement beam on the measurement plane and receives areturn light of the second measurement beam.
 63. The exposure apparatusaccording to claim 62 wherein the first measurement and secondmeasurement arms are each a cantilevered member whose one end in thefirst axis direction is a fixed end, and the other end is a free end.64. The exposure apparatus according to claim 62 wherein the holdingmember has at least a part of a solid section where a light can travelinside, and the measurement plane has a grating which is placed facingthe solid section on a mounting surface side of the object of theholding member, whose periodic direction is in a direction parallel toat least one of the first axis and the second axis, and the first andsecond measurement arms each have a head which irradiates the firstmeasurement beam and the second measurement beam on the grating,respectively, and receives a diffraction light from the grating, and thefirst and second measurement systems measure a positional information ofthe holding member in a periodic direction of the grating, based on anoutput of the heads.
 65. The exposure apparatus according to claim 54wherein the object exchange system exchanges the object integrally withthe holding member.
 66. The exposure apparatus according to claim 54,the apparatus further comprising: an optical member which has anoutgoing plane that emits the energy beam; and a liquid immersion devicewhich has a liquid immersion member that supplies liquid between theoptical member and the holding member held by the first movable body.67. The exposure apparatus according to claim 66, the apparatus furthercomprising: a shutter which holds the liquid with the optical member.68. The exposure apparatus according to claim 33 wherein the objectexchange system has a holding section which can hold the object fromabove in a non-contact manner.
 69. The exposure apparatus according toclaim 68 wherein the holding section includes a Bernoulli chuck whichholds the object in a non-contact manner using a Bernoulli effect. 70.The exposure apparatus according to claim 33 wherein the measurementprocessing section includes at least one mark detection system whichdetects a mark on the object.
 71. The exposure apparatus according toclaim 70 wherein the measurement processing section includes a pluralityof mark detection systems which detects different marks on the object,respectively, and has detection areas placed apart in a directionparallel to the second axis.
 72. A device manufacturing method,including exposing an object using the exposure apparatus according toclaim 33; and developing the object which has been exposed.